UAV Outback Challenge

The UAV Challenge - Outback Rescue, also known as the UAV Outback Challenge or UAV Challenge, is an annual competition for the development of unmanned aerial vehicles. The competition was first held in 2007 and features an open challenge for adults, and a high-school challenge. The event is aimed at promoting the civilian use of <a href="/facts/Unmanned_aerial_vehicle/qt87T19t">unmanned aerial vehicles</a> and the development of low-cost systems that could be used for search and rescue missions. The event is one of the largest <a href="/facts/Robotics/wkmvodJz">robotics</a> challenges in the world and one of the highest stakes UAV challenges, with the 2018 Medical Express version of the event offering $75,000 to the winner.
The events involve a thorough scoring system with an emphasis on safety, capability and technical excellence. In particular there is a strong tendency towards autonomous flight. Notably, teams share technical details of their entries, allowing successful innovations to proliferate and increasing the speed of technological development.
The format of the Challenge changes as technological improvements make the tasks more achievable. In 2011 it changed to a search and rescue challenge. No teams successfully completed the challenge until 2014 when several teams were successful. In 2016 the open challenge changed to an automated medical retrieval task known as Medical Express and it was almost completed in 2016 and 2018. The UAV Challenge was not held in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, and the challenge did not return after pandemic.

UAV Outback Challenge open-in-new

UAV Outback Challenge