"Vertical Takeoff and Landing Rescue Mission"... Nurturing AAM Talent at the Robot Aircraft Competition

Korea Aerospace Industries Association Calls for University Teams to Join Competition
Total Prize Pool of 64 Million Won and Development Funding Provided

A competition for unmanned aerial vehicles will be held to nurture the next generation of talent who will lead the era of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM). The event will feature high-level missions that reflect real industrial environments, such as vertical takeoff and landing-based rescue operations, signaling the start of a full-fledged competition in autonomous flight technology among university students.

The Korea Aerospace Industries Association announced on March 25 that it will be accepting applications for teams wishing to participate in the 24th Korea Robot Aircraft Competition until April 10. This competition, which began in 2002, is Korea’s leading unmanned aerial vehicle contest and is held annually to expand the technological base in the drone and AAM sectors and to foster professional talent.

Poster for the 24th Korea Robot and Aircraft Competition. Provided by the Korea Aerospace Industries Association

This year’s competition is divided into the “Regular Division” and the “Intermediate Division” based on the difficulty of the missions. In the Regular Division, participants will be tasked with a vertical takeoff and landing fixed-wing aircraft-based rescue mission. In the Intermediate Division, teams are given an indoor search and rescue mission using multicopter-type drones. Participants must integrate a variety of technical elements, including aircraft development, AAM system design, and autonomous flight software, to complete the missions.

The competition will consist of a first preliminary round in May, a second preliminary round in July, and the finals will be held on September 5 at the Air Force Education and Training Command in Jinju, Gyeongsangnam-do. Technical guidance workshops led by experts will also be held during the preliminary rounds.

To reduce the development burden on participating teams, funding will be provided to teams that pass the preliminaries. For the Regular Division, the total support amounts to 30 million won (about 5 million won per team), while for the Intermediate Division, the total is 15 million won (about 1.5 million won per team). A total of 64 million won in prize money will be awarded to the winning teams, with 20 million won going to the grand prize winner in the Regular Division.

Eligibility is open to undergraduate and graduate students nationwide who are interested in AAM system development, aircraft design, or autonomous flight software. Applications can be submitted through the official competition website.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.