International Competition Shines Spotlight on Southern Maryland

RoboNation’s 2024 Student Unmanned Aerial Systems (SUAS) Competition is once again connecting Southern Maryland with the world.

The annual event, which aims to promote UAS technologies and careers, is held at the St. Mary’s County Regional Airport – bringing international attention to the region and the AeroPark Innovation District.

Organizations including the St. Mary’s County Department of Economic Development, University of Maryland (UMD), University System of Maryland at Southern Maryland, and Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) all support the event in various capacities, as well as industry sponsors and The Patuxent Partnership.

This year’s competition was held from June 25-27, 2024. 400 students on 36 different teams from around the globe demonstrated the abilities of their UAS. In total, nine countries across four continents were represented.

To kick off the event, NAWCAD test pilots and engineers helped perform system safety checks on the competing UAS. Then, the competition portion featured tasks based on trends in the UAS industry. This year’s challenges included autonomous flight, obstacle avoidance, air delivery, and object detection, classification, and localization.

The teams saw some highs and lows – the competition’s flight status report shows two collisions, eight crashes, and one overheated system. However, many teams successfully completed their flights. A team of students from King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) in Saudi Arabia took first place.

“We were particularly excited to see the depth of talent this year at the competition. Each team brought a novel approach, from developing custom autopilot systems to creating promising vertical take-off and landing technology, advanced safety mechanisms, and more,” said Lindsey Groark, RoboNation’s Vice President of Programs, in an article published by RoboNation. “Teams came prepared for the challenge this year. It was clear that previous participants took the time to evaluate their systems and find efficient ways to attempt the mission.”

Many teams from the United States ranked well, and some won awards.

Top ranking teams from the United States

Amador Valley High School – 12th overall + the JustJoe Sportsmanship Award
North Carolina State University – 14th overall
University of Hawaii at Manoa – 15th overall
University of California Irvine – 17th overall
University of California Berkeley – 18th overall
Cornell University – 19th overall + the Most Innovative Award
Bishop England High School – 21st overall
Virginia Tech – 22nd overall
Missouri University of Science and Technology – 24th overall
The Ohio State University – 25th overall

To see the full list of 2024 teams and rankings, click here.

This was the first year the competition was hosted by RoboNation, a nonprofit organization focused on robotics education and workforce development. It is just one of RoboNation's many programs. Others include the International SeaPerch Challenge, held at the UMD main campus in College Park.

About RoboNation:

RoboNation, a nonprofit organization, is on a mission to provide hands-on robotics education, empowering students to tackle global challenges. With a portfolio of nine educational programs spanning K-12 and university levels, RoboNation cultivates the next generation of engineers, manufacturers, fabricators, programmers, and more. Participants in RoboNation programs represent the highly skilled workforce of tomorrow. Learn more at robonation.org.

Published July 15, 2024