Aerial Drone Competition
The REC Foundation Aerial Drone Competition offers an exciting educational drone sporting event focusing on hands-on, student-centered learning. The program consists of 4 distinct missions:
Teamwork: Alliances of two teams work together to score as many points as possible in 90-second matches under pilot control.
Autonomous flight: Individual drones score as many points as possible in one minute of pre-programmed autonomous operation.
Piloting skills: Individual drones score as many points as possible in one minute of pilot control.
Communications: Teams maintain a record of their work throughout the season in a Competition Logbook, and are also interviewed by judges.
Current Game: Eclipse
ADC Eclipse is played on a 20'x20’ field. In the teamwork mission, two teams collaborate to score as many points as possible in a 90-second match.
Teams score points by removing balls from chambers and scoring them in goals corresponding to their color. At the end of the match, teams can earn additional points by competing the Eclipse – piloting their drone through a series of obstacles in sequence – and by landing their drones in designated locations.
Additionally, the autonomous flight and piloting skills missions use a separate "skills" field layout which provides a series of objects and obstacles for drones to sense and fly through.
Our Support
The WV Robotics Alliance coordinates with schools, universities, and other partners to provide equipment, staffing, and support for ADC qualifying tournaments throughout the state, which are generally held between November and February.
Additionally, we are excited to host Northeast Aerial Drone Championship: Dragonfly, one of four Aerial Drone Competition Championship events, at Fairmont State University. May 17-18, 2024.
ADC is presented by the Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation, a US-registered 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization. The REC Foundation’s mission is to increase student interest and involvement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by engaging students in hands-on, affordable, and sustainable robotics engineering programs.
For more information about ADC or to register a team, visit the REC Foundation website: