Competition 3

The Ultimate Hybrid Indoor and Outdoor Search and Rescue Deployment.

Host Organization

Delft University of Technology

Faculty of Aerospace Engineering

Deployment Location

Unmanned Valley

Katwijk, the Netherlands

Operational Dates

July 7 to July 16 2026

10 day deployment window

Simulated disaster zone at Unmanned Valley with scattered debris and tent structures for SAPIENCE Competition 3 hybrid search and rescue scenario

The Environment

A powerful earthquake has struck a coastal region, leaving buildings damaged and survivors scattered across open fields and temporary shelters. Time is critical and emergency responders are overwhelmed. The operational environment features scattered debris, large tents serving as collapsed buildings, and hidden supply caches. Communication networks are down and GNSS signals are completely unreliable.

Multidrone Deployment Protocols

Fleet Composition

Teams must deploy a minimum of two uniquely marked autonomous assets designated as the blue drone and the yellow drone.

Target Search

Drones must explore unknown layouts to locate 8 target mannequins scattered both outdoors and hidden inside enclosed tent structures.

Advanced Triage

Vision systems must distinguish between lying targets requiring critical medical packages and standing targets requiring basic life support supplies.

Cooperative Delivery

Delivering a medical package to a critical target requires two drones to coordinate and safely land within a two meter radius of the target simultaneously.

Success Metrics

Performance is measured against three core criteria set by the NATO Joint Capability Group Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Utilizing GNSS during the mission incurs a severe 90 percent penalty to the final score to ensure true autonomous navigation capabilities.

Autonomous Cooperation

Demonstrable and measurable autonomous cooperation between assets including communication and task allocation.

Sense and Avoid

Demonstrable and measurable autonomous sense and avoid for obstacles, environments, and inter asset coordination.

Data Exploitation

Autonomous data exploitation including intelligence gathering, ArUco marker identification, and on the edge data fusion.