Our first milestone on the path toward IARC Mission 10

Welcome back to another update from Ascend! As Team26 begins its journey toward IARC Mission 10, this week marked one of our most important early milestones, the Concept Review.

The Concept Review is where we share our initial ideas with partners, alumni, and professors to gather feedback and refine our technical direction. It’s a key checkpoint that helps ensure we are on the right track toward building our Minimum Viable Product (MVP) before the summer test period.

IARC MISSION 10

IARC Mission 10 challenges teams to develop a swarm of four fully autonomous drones that can help a person safely cross a 100-meter minefield in under 7 minutes using intelligent avoidance rather than mine clearance. Each drone must weigh under one pound (453g), operate entirely on onboard computing, and be controlled only through voice or gesture commands. Before competing, teams must prove intelligent autonomous flight by demonstrating coordinated hovering, circling, and collision avoidance without ground control. During the mission, the drones must map the minefield within seven minutes, identify safe paths while avoiding false detections, and guide the person-at-risk across. The arena includes obstacles, trees, and decoy mines marked with AprilTags to test precision. Scoring rewards accurate mapping, efficient pathfinding, and lightweight design, while penalties apply for false detections, missed mines, and overweight drones. All systems must fit into a single backpack, highlighting real-world portability and rapid deployment.

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Curious to see how Team25 performed at IARC Mission 10? Check out our full competition recap [HERE]. For the official mission rules, visit [HERE].

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Autonomy

The Autonomy team presented their early plans for mission execution, focusing on pathfinding, obstacle avoidance, and minefield mapping. Discussions centered on mission planning algorithms and how to ensure safe, efficient traversal across an unpredictable terrain. The team also showcased their initial simulation environment, which will play a crucial role in testing flight logic before physical trials.

Perception

Perception focused on reliable detection of mines and obstacles, combining stereo vision, AprilTag recognition, and pose estimation to identify safe paths. Selecting the right sensors and ensuring lightweight onboard processing are major considerations this year. The team is also exploring visual mapping solutions to help visualize the minefield in real time.

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Control

The Control group presented developments in the flight stack, communication protocols, and positioning systems. Ensuring centimeter-level accuracy through GNSS and RTK remains a top priority. The team also outlined plans for improved fault tolerance and communication between drones, essential for coordinated swarm behavior.

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Hardware

Hardware’s presentation covered frame design, battery efficiency, and hardware integration. With the strict one-pound weight limit, the team is working on optimizing materials and layout to maximize endurance while maintaining structural integrity. Hardware integration across computing, sensors, and propulsion was a major discussion point, with valuable feedback from mentors and partners.

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Following the technical presentations, our technical leaders discussed the project’s organizational framework. Topics included repository structure, git workflow, and Docker integration, all with the focus on improving collaboration and consistency across teams. By establishing these standards early, Team26 ensures a solid foundation for the complex development ahead.

As always, the Concept Review was more than just a presentation, it was a dialogue. Our partners, alumni, and professors provided valuable insights that will guide our work in the coming months. Their perspectives help us challenge assumptions, refine our designs, and stay aligned with the mission’s broader goals.

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We extend our thanks to everyone who joined us in person and online for their support and feedback. Your engagement drives our progress and motivates us to keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.

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With the Concept Review behind us, Team26 is moving into the next phase: developing our Minimum Viable Product. The lessons learned this week will shape our design and testing process as we prepare for an exciting year of innovation and flight.

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Stay tuned as we bring our concepts to life, one flight at a time.