We are thrilled to announce a significant international distinction achieved by the student robotics team αeRAS (IEEE RAS Student Branch) of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA).

The team, composed of undergraduate ECE-NTUA students, distinguished itself among leading universities worldwide by qualifying for the finals of the UAV Competition at the ICUAS 2026 (International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems).

This year’s highly demanding competition scenario required the development of advanced algorithms, utilizing ROS2 and Gazebo, for the decentralized navigation of a UAV swarm in an unknown urban environment. The mission objectives included target detection, continuous tracking of a moving ground vehicle, autonomous energy management, and the maintenance of a robust and uninterrupted communication network.

The team’s outstanding performance during the simulation phase enabled it to outperform submissions from institutions with long-established expertise in the field, including IIT Kanpur, IIT Bombay, and Brno University of Technology. This achievement highlights the high level of academic training and technical competence of the School’s students.

The “Real-World” finals will take place in June in Corfu, Greece, where the αeRAS team will represent NTUA and compete against the following finalist institutions:

1. AGH University of Krakow (Poland)
2. Queen's University (Canada)
3. Kyungpook National University (South Korea)
4. Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas / FORTH (Greece)

The αeRAS Team Members are:

1. Michalis Psychis (Team Leader, 4th year ECE-NTUA)
2. Zoi Tsouroufli (Team Member / RAS Vice President, 4th year ECE-NTUA)
3. Elena Alevropoulou (Team Member, 4th year ECE-NTUA)
4. Petros Pantazis (Team Member, 4th year ECE-NTUA)
5. Maria-Rozina Bertou (Team Member, 3rd year ECE-NTUA)
6. Konstantinos Sarakis (Team Member, 2nd year ECE-NTUA)

The School warmly congratulates the team on this outstanding achievement and wishes them continued success in the final phase of the competition.