The UAV Challenge organisers are very grateful for the Bronze sponsorship of LightWare Optoelectronics. LightWare produces lightweight laser altimeters and collision avoidance sensors for drones. Their innovative products easily interface to flight controllers, providing increased safety and reliability to commercial drone operations. Safer landings, staying inside aviation authority height restrictions, detecting power lines or trees, terrain following and mapping obstacles during slow speed manoeuvring are a few of the mission critical capabilities offered by their high quality products.

Alex Zelinsky (right), the Chief Defence Scientist and head of the Defence Science and Technology (DST) Group visited QUT to meet UAV Challenge co-founder Jonathan Roberts (left) and Outback Joe (middle) on Monday.

The UAV Challenge organisers are very grateful for the Bronze sponsorship of the Defence Science and Technology (DST) Group. DST Group is the second largest public-funded R&D organisation in Australia and they are a national leader in safeguarding Australia by delivering valued scientific advice and innovative solutions for Defence and national security.

The UAV Challenge organisers are very grateful for the Bronze sponsorship of the Australian Robotics and Automation Association (ARAA) at the UAV Challenge 2016 events.

The Australian Robotics and Automation Association Inc. is a professional society in Australia and New Zealand that is concerned with robots, their applications and their implications, and related automation technologies. The Association organises conferences and other meetings, and serves as a focal point for Australian industry and researchers concerned with robotics and automation. You can find out more about the ARAA from their website.

The UAV Challenge organisers are very grateful for the Bronze sponsorship of the Western Downs Regional Council at the 2016 UAV Challenge. The 2016 Medical Express event will be held close to the Western Downs town of Dalby. The Western Downs region is located three hours drive west of Brisbane. It is a region rich with agricultural heritage and industry, manufacturing and resource industries. The region is also home to a number of iconic attractions and destinations, hosting vibrant and distinct festivals that capture our living history and country ambience. It is great to have the council supporting the first Medical Express event. The council is also organising the Dalby Drone Industry Forum on Monday September 26th. Full details, including the list of speakers and topics, can be found here: http://bit.ly/2aR0u5L

The teams of the 2015 Airborne Delivery Challenge at Calvert.

The UAV Challenge Technical Committee is please to announce the names of the 19 2016 Airborne Delivery Challenge teams. The teams come from Australia (11), USA (5) and China (3). The teams are:

Rise Above (Noosa District High School, Australia)
Calamvale Predators (Calamvale Community College, Australia)
Calamvale Hurricane’s (Calamvale Community College, Australia)
JPC UAV (John Paul College, Australia)
The Quadcopter Crew (Dickson College, Australia)
Tracer (Wuhan British China of Foreign Languages High School, China)
Five Knights (Non-school team, China)
Woodward Academy UAV (Woodward Academy, Georgia, USA)
Drones are us (Non-school team, Australia)
404 NOT FOUND (Non-school team, China)
RoboHawks (Non-school team, California, USA)
Pineapple Airlines (Mueller College, Australia)
Prankster Gangster Nation (Mueller College, Australia)
Flight Cub (Queensland Academy for Science Mathematics and Technology, Australia)
Toowoomba Christian College (Australia)
Phantom Soldiers (Knight High School, California, USA)
Flyin’ Knights (Knight High School, California, USA)
The Gentlemen (Knight High School, California, USA)
Indooroopilly Quad (Indooroopilly State High School, Australia)

We look forward to hosting these teams at Calvert, Queensland in two weeks time.

We are delighted that in 2016 the UAV Challenge events have the support of fourteen organisations. This is an amazing outcome for the UAV Challenge and we are very grateful for all the support that we are receiving.  In 2016 we have the Queensland Government as a supporter, Insitu Pacific, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin as Platinum Sponsors, Boeing as a Gold Sponsor, Little Ripper Lifesaver, MathWorks and CASA as Silver sponsors, LightWare Optoelectronics, Defence Science and Technology Group, the Australian Robotics & Automation Association, and Western Downs Regional Council as Bronze sponsors. The UAV Challenge is again co-organised by Queensland University of Technology’s Australian Research Centre for Aerospace Automation and CSIRO’s Data61. The UAV Challenge would not be possible without the financial support that all of these organisations bring.

The Technical Committee of the UAV Challenge are pleased to announce the names of the Medical Express 2016 teams. Ten teams have qualified for the event in Dalby.  The teams are:

CanberraUAV (Australia)
West Coast UAV (Australia)
UNSW Canberra UAV Team (Australia)
Monash Unmanned Aerial Systems (Australia)
PerthUAV (Australia)
Forward Robotics (Canada)
MelAvio (Poland)
ArsNumerika-JetStream (Poland)
MAVLab TU Delft (The Netherlands)
ISAAC UAV, Kasetsart University (Thailand)

We look forward to hosting these ten teams in just over three weeks time.

The UAV Challenge Technical Committee has reviewed the Deliverable 3 documents and videos and today have sent their decisions to the teams. Eleven teams are still in the competition. Eight of those received Go decisions with the technical committee still clarifying some points with three teams. Two teams were given No-Go decisions. The eleven teams come from Australia, Poland, India, Thailand, The Netherlands and Canada. The Technical Committee are excited by the quality of the teams progressing and look forward to an excellent competition in Dalby.

We are excited to announce that the Western Downs Regional Council have organised a fantastic one day industry forum called “Turning the Drone Opportunity into Reality” to be held on the Monday 26 September (UAV Challenge Medical Express week) in Dalby. The program is excellent and is filled with great speakers. If you are planning to come to the Medical Express event, then please consider attending the industry forum too. Full details, including the list of speakers and topics, can be found here: http://bit.ly/2aR0u5L

The UAV Challenge organisers are excited to announce that Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) are Silver sponsors for the 2016 UAV Challenge. CASA provides a world class safety regulatory environment for civil air operations in Australia and the operation of Australian aircraft overseas. CASA’s challenge is to enhance and promote aviation safety through effective safety regulation and by encouraging industry to deliver high standards of safety. As part of this function CASA provides comprehensive safety education and training programs, cooperates with other government agencies and the industry, and administers certain features of Part IVA of the Civil Aviation (Carriers’ Liability) Act 1959. CASA has been a supporter of the UAV Challenge for many years now and it is wonderful to have their continued support.