SESAR JU Special Prize

Detailed rules

Teams will perform the tasks related to this special prize in the ERL Emergency 2019 competition arena. The teams must use a drone to complete an outdoor predefined trajectory (defined as a list of waypoints) avoiding fixed obstacles and other non-cooperative drones in a fully autonomous mode in the shortest possible time.

Previous considerations

1. Each team must be made up of at least a drone, a computer (Ground Station), a safety pilot and a ground station operator.
2. A rectangular area and a maximum altitude will determine the Challenge Zone, where the drones are allowed to fly. This area will be the same as ERL Emergency 2019 competition arena.
3. The drone must take off from a predefined zone called Starting Zone.
4. Organizers will provide the Trajectory, as a list of waypoints (latitude, longitude, altitude), to the teams prior to the beginning of the Challenge. This list will include the takeoff and landing points.
5. A waypoint is considered reached if the closest distance from the drone to the waypoint is less than 3 meters.
6. Fixed obstacles will be located into the Challenge Zone and may be made of any kind of soft or hard material (Styrofoam, plastic…).
7. Non-cooperative drones will be controlled by the organizers and their dimensions will be less than 1 x 1 x 1 meters. Safety pilots for these drones will be provided by the organizers. Non-cooperative drones will move between two waypoints, continuously following a non-predefined trajectory but into a predefined Drone Zone, determined by a rectangular area and a maximum altitude.
8. The system must run in a fully autonomous way. Once the drone has taken off, both the operator and the safety pilot will NOT be allowed to operate the drone until it has completed the whole trajectory (“hands off”). So, if someone commands the drone, the attempt will be considered as finished. Judges may be present next to the safety pilot and/or the operator to check this.
9. The Ground Station operator must be able to demonstrate to the judges that the system can detect and avoid obstacles and other drones. For instance through received images, by highlighting the obstacle and the drone trajectory.
10. Each team will be assigned timeslots (their duration will depend on the number of participants). For any given timeslot, each team will attempt to complete the Challenge as many times as they want. Each attempt must start at the Starting Zone.
11. Teams are allowed to use a different drone for each attempt within a given timeslot.
12. Each attempt will be recorded in time. Before each attempt, the team is allowed to turn on their Ground Station or any other supporting ground equipment. The power of the drone can be applied prior to each attempt.
13. The record time of each team’s attempt is measured from the time to take off and finish the attempt. If the timeslot finishes without the drone completing the whole Challenge, the flight time and the last waypoint reached is recorded.
14. Each attempt is considered “finished” by successfully reaching all the waypoints in the correct order. Additionally, an attempt is considered finished if:
    • The drone goes outside the Challenge Zone.
    • The drone collides with an obstacle or a non-cooperative drone.
    • The drone does not reach each waypoint in order.
    • The drone malfunctions.
    • The drone is not able to sustain safe and controlled flight.
    • The Ground Station operator or the safety pilot take control of the drone.
    • The Ground Station operator or the safety pilot declare ending the attempt.
    • The judges consider that the Ground Station operator is not showing them clearly that the system is able to detect and avoid the obstacles and/or the non-cooperative drones.
15. Once the judges determine the attempt has finished, no more waypoints will be considered as reached.
16. The only input data that teams are allowed to use to launch the system are the list of waypoints and the Challenge volume.
17. Once each attempt has finished, the team has to provide a log from the attempt including the drone trajectory (timestamps and positions). Teams must communicate to the organizers the log format (.bag, .txt, etc.) before the beginning of the challenges, so they can validate it.
18. The final results will be determined once the judges receive and analyze all the logs from all the teams.
19. The judges reserve the right to stop any team’s attempt if considered dangerous or not following the guidelines. Also, the judges reserve the right to rule out any attempt’s record if any unfair activity is found (e.g. obtain information not open to all teams, human intervention detected afterwards and so on).

Next figure shows a first draft of the scenario. This is just an example and must not be assumed as the final scenario.