Awards: the team from Sant'Anna School wins the Leonardo Drone Contest, the competition that sees drones capable of autonomous flight designed by seven Italian universities

The team from the Institute of Mechanical Intelligence at the Sant'Anna School, composed of PhD students Michael Mugnai and Massimo Teppati Losè, coordinated by tutor and researcher Massimo Satler together with Carlo Alberto Avizzano, professor of Automatics at Sant'Anna School, won the fourth edition of the Leonardo Drone Contest 2023.

In addition to the Sant'Anna School, the Turin Polytechnic, the Milan Polytechnic, the Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, the University of Rome Tor Vergata, the University of Naples Federico II and the Polytechnic of Bari participated in the final in Turin. The seven teams challenged each other on the implementation of the collaborative approach between their drones and autonomous ground vehicles, using location and navigation solutions based on Artificial Intelligence algorithms to perform complex missions in the absence of human or satellite GPS guidance.

The development of this type of technology is crucial as it can find applications in complex contexts, such as inspections in sites that are difficult to access or areas affected by natural disasters. In fact, one of the main objectives of the Leonardo Drone Contest is to promote the development of artificial intelligence applied to the field of unmanned systems and aims to foster the creation of an innovation 'ecosystem' that involves and brings together the capabilities of large companies, universities, SMEs and national spin-offs and start-ups.

Cover: from the right Massimo Satler, affiliated researcher of IM Institute, Marco Arobbio, Leonardo Helicopters, Carlo Alberto Avizzano, associate professor of Automatica, Moira Bellachioma, Leonardo Helicopters, Massimo Teppati Losè and Michael Mugnai, PhD students

Gallery: some pictures from the 2023 competition