Official call · DUAS-AERONAV 2026
Drones Competition
Design, build and fly your own quadcopter. Teams compete with a standardized power system and open software, so the best design wins, not the biggest budget.
- Tuesday · competition day
- Nov 10
- Tuesday · competition day
- points in 3 phases
- 100
- points in 3 phases
- students per team
- 2–8
- students per team
- operating height · 10 m ceiling
- ≤ 5 m
- operating height · 10 m ceiling
Calendar
Deadlines close at 23:59 (Central Mexico time).
October
Publication
Call, drawings and CAD files. Registration opens.
Fri Oct 30
Registration closes
Team, members, aircraft name and logo.
Tue Nov 3
Pre-qualification
Video of the aircraft flying and of its safety tests.
Thu Nov 5
Admission
List of teams with an approved video.
Sat Nov 7
Technical Report
PDF including the bill of materials (BOM).
Mon Nov 9
Flight order
Flight order and detailed schedule for the day.
Tue Nov 10
Competition
Inspection, Phases 1–3, report scores and awards.
Challenge goals
Teams integrate design, simulation, manufacturing and autonomous flight into one aircraft, judged on paper and in the open field.
01
Applied engineering: CAD, structural analysis (FEA), aerodynamics (CFD), additive manufacturing and automatic control in a real project.
02
Technical fairness: the same power system for everyone; weight, stiffness and navigation optimization are what count.
03
Whole-system performance: the rigor of the prior design and the vehicle's response in a real outdoor setting.
04
Open participation: free choice of control hardware with open software, without relying on expensive parts.
The aircraft
Free design within these limits. The reference 3D model shows the components and the mandatory interfaces; the CAD files are under Downloads.
Technical rules
Frame
OpenOpen
Commercial or self-designed frame
Wheelbase
Limit≤ 450 mm
Diagonal motor-to-motor distance
Take-off mass
Limit≤ 2.0 kg
With Black Box and payload installed
Motors
Standardized4 × 2212/2213
Brushless, 920–1000 KV
ESCs
Standardized4 × 20–30 A
Commercial ESCs
Propellers
Open up to 10"≤ 10"
Two-blade, plastic or nylon, ≥ 10 mm clearance
Flight controller
Approved firmwareAny hardware
Running ArduPilot, PX4 or INAV
GNSS
MandatoryWith compass
M8N, M9N, M10 or better
Radio
Mandatory2.4 GHz
≥ 6 channels and a dedicated kill switch
Battery
Homologated3S LiPo 2200
≥ 25C, XT60 connector
Flight controller: any hardware, approved software
It can be commercial (Pixhawk, Cube, Matek, SpeedyBee…), a clone or your own board. What is required is the firmware, because it guarantees safety and autonomous navigation.
| Firmware | Minimum version | Ground station |
|---|---|---|
| ArduPilot (ArduCopter) | ≥ 4.4 | Mission Planner, QGroundControl |
| PX4 | ≥ 1.14 | QGroundControl |
| INAV | ≥ 8.0 | INAV Configurator |
Not approved: Betaflight, KISS, EmuFlight and similar, because they don't run waypoint missions or polygon geofences.
Minimum configuration
- Polygon geofence matching the flight area, 10 m ceiling, RTL or land action.
- 5 m RTL altitude with automatic landing.
- RC-loss failsafe (≤ 1 s) and low-battery failsafe.
- Dedicated kill switch, effective in any mode.
- Pre-arm checks and logging enabled.
Reference parameters for each firmware are in Annex A of the call.
Official Black Box: 100 g
The judges mount it over the CG: 4 × M3 holes on a 30.5 × 30.5 mm pattern within a free 80 × 60 mm area, a free Ø 40 × 100 mm volume for the antenna, and at least 50 mm from power wiring. It has its own battery.
The missions
Tap each phase to see the procedure, scoring and drawings. Positions are for reference; the flight area and height limits are fixed.
100 pts
How are the 100 points split?
Three phases. Phase 1 combines the Technical Report submitted before the event with the on-field Slalom.
Phase 1 · 45
Phase 2 · 25
Phase 3 · 30
25
20
25
30
Technical Report · 25
Academic Committee rubric
Slalom & stability · 20
Stopwatch + integrity
Payload drop · 25
Distance to the target
Autonomous navigation + RTL · 30
Black Box + tape measure
Tie-break: highest Phase 3 score, then lowest verifiable cost, then fastest Slalom time.
Before flying: Technical Inspection (Pass / Fail)
Dimensions, mass, firmware, geofence, failsafes and kill switch. No aircraft enters the flight area without a pass.
Score multipliers
They reward in-house engineering. A multiplied trial never exceeds its maximum: the total stays at 100.
×1.2
Self-designed frame
Technical Report
Designed, simulated and built by the team, not a commercial frame such as the DJI F450.
×1.1
3D-printed release
Payload
Release mechanism designed by the team. The reference design only qualifies after substantial redesign.
×1.2
Low-cost controller
Autonomous navigation
A board costing $1,500 MXN or less (verifiable) and Phase 3 completed with no penalties.
Downloaded CAD models (Thingiverse, GrabCAD) are allowed and judged like a commercial frame.
Field & operating limits
The whole site is at most 50 × 100 m. Inside it, a 30 × 70 m flight area is marked out, which is also the geofence.
- Operating height
- ≤ 5 m
- Absolute ceiling
- 10 m
- Flight area
- 30 × 70 m
- Maximum site
- 50 × 100 m
- Waypoints
- ≥ 5 m from edge
- Public
- ≥ 10 m from area
Field safety
Geofence
Polygon + 10 m ceiling
Matches the flight area; RTL or land action.
Kill switch
Dedicated switch
Disarms immediately in any mode.
Failsafe
≤ 1 s
RTL or land on RC loss or low battery.
Line of sight
Always
The pilot flies watching the aircraft; FPV only for an observer.
Flights are paused with gusts above 25 km/h, rain or drizzle.
Build your team
Register a team name and an aircraft name, and design your own logo. The frame must visibly carry your institution's logo; sponsors are allowed.
2–8
Undergraduate or graduate students, multidisciplinary
1
Academic advisor (optional)
1
Aircraft per team, spare parts allowed
Deliverables before the event
- Oct 30
Registration
Website form, Drones competition option.
- Nov 3
Pre-qualification video
Link to a video of at most 4 min, to edgar.rojordrg@uanl.edu.mx.
- Nov 7
Technical Report + BOM
PDF of at most 20 pages, to edgar.rojordrg@uanl.edu.mx.
The pre-qualification video shows
- 1A stable 30 s hover in an assisted mode.
- 2Kill switch and RC failsafe tested on the bench, props off.
- 3A 3-waypoint mission with RTL (real or SITL).
- 4The release mechanism working with 250 g.
Field roles
- 1
Captain
The only spokesperson with the judges.
- 2
Pilot in command (PIC)
The only one on the RC transmitter; shows simulator practice.
- 3
Safety officer
Arming, kill switch and checklist.
- 4
GCS operator
Optional: uploads the mission and watches telemetry.
Awards
Overall champion (Grand Prix)
Highest combined score across the three phases.
Best mechanical & aerodynamic design
Highest Technical Report score before multipliers.
Excellence in autonomy & control
Highest Phase 3 score; ties go to the smallest landing error.
Penalties
- −5
Trial restart
At most one restart per trial.
- −10
Parts lost in flight
Payload excluded.
- +5 s
Pole touched
Added to the Slalom time.
- 0
Geofence breach or erratic flight
0 pts for the current trial.
- 15'
Repairs
15 min maximum, then a new inspection.
Downloads
The full call and reference models to practise with the mandatory interfaces.
Official call (PDF)
Full rules with drawings and annexes
Full CAD pack (ZIP)
STL files, Blender model and parametric script
Black Box adapter (STL)
80 × 60 × 3 mm, 30.5 × 30.5 pattern
Black Box dummy (STL)
Hollow; fill to 100 g with ballast
Release mechanism (STL)
Base for a 9 g servo
Mechanism pin (STL)
Ø 4 × 45 mm with eyelet
Important note
This page summarizes the call. The PDF is the official reference for the rules.