January in Ascend Team 26: A Month of Momentum and Transition

Welcome back to another update from Ascend. As Team 26 moves further into the development phase toward IARC Mission 10, January has been an important month for our progress.

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A Strong Start to the Year

January has focused on effort and close cooperation across the team. With members returning after the winter break, we kicked off the year with our annual work week.

Bringing the team together for long and concentrated days allowed us to align both technically and organizationally, while also reminding ourselves how much we rely on one another.

During the work week, all groups made important progress. Control focused on extensive testing and system setup, working with RTK solutions, flight controller configuration, and validating communication and positioning using a dedicated test drone. Autonomy began shaping mission logic, including early work on obstacle avoidance, path planning, and continued development of simulation tools.

Perception used the work week to strengthen its technical foundation, with team members getting properly set up in ROS 2, working with Docker, and continuing development related to obstacle avoidance and mine detection. This included improvements to detection services and bringing the rangefinder into use, supporting future testing and integration.

Hardware  worked on improving soldering skills, running test rounds, and completing a demo drone that will be used for continued testing and iteration. The business team ensured partner agreements were up to date, planned upcoming events, continued strengthening the external communication, and ensured a good working environment amongst the team.

At last, the marketing team has been taking photos of the other groups, as well as updating our contents on our social medias and on our website.

What Comes Next…

Across Team 26, January has been about establishing direction. Early development work, testing, and internal discussions have helped set priorities and identify challenges moving forward. These efforts mark an important transition from planning to execution and will shape how we approach design, integration, and testing later in the year.

While much of this work happens behind the scenes, it is crucial for ensuring that future milestones are reached efficiently and with confidence.

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A New Workspace at Valgrinda

In addition to technical progress, January also brought a significant change for Ascend as an organization. Over the course of the month, we moved from our office at Holtermanns veg to Valgrinda, where we have now joined our fellow Technical Organizations.

We are now settled into our new office and have already begun working in our new space and getting familiar with this new environment.

‍Looking Ahead

January has been a month of preparation, transition, and renewed focus. While the results of this work will become more visible later in the year, the groundwork laid this month is essential for everything that follows.

With a motivated team, a new workspace, and clear direction, Team 26 is ready to continue moving forward.

Stay tuned as we turn preparation into progress, one step closer to flight.