Brave1 competition invites students to develop landing legs for “waiting” drones

The Brave1 defence cluster is launching Brave Students to establish cooperation between students, universities, and defence tech manufacturers. The first competition within this framework is called ‘Drone with paws,’ in which participants must develop technology for “drones-waiters”.

“Waiting” drones are used as ground ambush systems that are “parked” at a designated position and switch to a low-power mode while awaiting a target. Brave1 is inviting students to develop an FPV attachment that would allow drones to land safely on various surfaces and take off from them.

Students from colleges and universities are invited to participate in the competition. To apply, you need to assemble a team of five people from one or more educational institutions and fill out a form with a selection task. The deadline is 12 February, and the selection results will be announced on 13 February.

It is not necessary to have a prototype of the attachment right away, but on 14 March, the selected teams will have to present them to the jury. “Leading drone manufacturers will select teams whose solutions have the potential for practical application. These teams will work on the technology for a month under the guidance of experienced companies,” the competition description says. After flight tests, the winners will be determined, with a prize fund of 90,000 UAH.

The project is being implemented as part of the EU4UA Defence Tech grant programme, which Defender Media reported on earlier. It provides €5 million in funding to support Ukrainian defence innovations. €3.3 million of this amount goes to grants for game-changing war startups.