REC Foundation Aerial Drone Competition

The REC Foundation Aerial Drone Competition offers an exciting educational drone sporting event focusing on hands-on, student-centered learning. Four Drones made up of two Alliances fly around the field to attain a higher score than the opposing alliance. Teams also compete in the Programming Skills Challenge where one drone takes to the sky to score as many points as possible. Additionally, teams are judged on an engineering notebook that shows their understanding of the engineering design process.

Current Game: Blackout

ADC Blackout is played on a 24'x24’ field. Two Alliances - one “red” and one “blue” - composed of two Teams each, compete in 2-minute matches. The object of the game is to attain a higher score than the opposing alliance.

The scoring objects in RADC DownDraft 2 are 36 Red Balls, 36 Blue Balls, and 2 large Bonus Balls. Alliances earn points for each goal containing more balls of their color than of their opponents'. When scored in a goal, the Bonus Balls offer a point bonus to the alliance owning the goal.

At the end of the match, alliances earn additional points for landing their drones in specific locations. The highest-value locations are behind the Blackout Screens, out of view of the drones' pilots. Pilots must communicate with their teammates standing across the field to guide the drone to a safe landing.

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 Aerial Drone Championship: Dragonfly, one of four Aerial Drone Competition Championship events, at Fairmont State University. May 19-20, 2023.

ADC is presented by the Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation, a US-registered 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization, in partnership with For The Win Robotics. 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: