The Aerial Drone Competition’s inaugural signature event was held this spring in Terre Haute, IN. The Aerial Drone Competition’s March Madness: Hoosier Edition brought nearly 50 drone teams from across the country to the Midwest to compete in a two-day event at the Hulman Center at Indiana State University.

Hands-On Learning With A Competitive Edge

“It’s kind of like an endurance challenge because this is a two-day competition, and it kind of shows me how far you can get when you’re working in a team,” said Sofia, the co-pilot of Vidar 1, a Navy JROTC unit team from Houston.

Being a part of this competition and coming to events like this gives students and educators a deeper understanding of what opportunities are available to drone pilots and coders. 

“It gave me an example of how drones can be used for competition purposes, of the teamwork that’s involved in it, and of how the multiple categories of all these drone competitions can be used in life.” Another Vidar 1 teammate shared that they are usually very shy, but being a part of this competition program, they have developed their social and communication skills in only a few short months. 

Taking STEM Learning to New Heights

“What’s exciting about being here is we have students from all over the United States competing in drones,” shared Dan Mantz, CEO of RECF. The RECF drones program is now seven years old. When the RECF started the program back in 2020, there were just 100 teams. Today, there are more than 2,227 teams participating in the program. 

The Aerial Drone Competition is an accessible program for students to have quality STEM learning experiences and aims to prepare them for the workforce. 

Robolink’s Codrone EDU is the official drone for the ADC Mission 2026: Time Warp.  “Something that really drew us to this partnership and drives us to be here today is that we see the RECF bringing levels of excitement, energy, and a sense of belonging to STEM and career and technical education. It’s something that you traditionally get from athletics programs,” said Adrienne White, Vice President of Marketing at Robolink.

The Codrone EDU is a programmable drone designed for learning and classroom use, making it an easy entry point for students and new teams to begin their journey in drones. 

Wider Horizons through Drone Education

​“I have learned that I’m really into computer science,” shared Waylon from the Sky Circuits team. “We were working with Python code, and I realized ‘hey, this is super easy.’” That’s when this student’s teacher suggested these students form the first middle school drones team at their school. Since then, each team member has expressed an interest in pursuing further education in computer science or software development.

Many of these students are in their first year of involvement in the aerial drone competition. Students learn many skills that come with operating drones, and they also develop soft skills that are transferable to any career. These students develop workforce skills, gaining flight and  coding skills, and more importantly, communication and problem-solving skills.

As the Aerial Drone Competition continues to grow rapidly, more students and teams mean more opportunities for students to meet, collaborate, and learn from fellow students outside of their hometowns, states, and even countries.