About
The Hack the Drone Competition is a two-day innovation challenge that brings together students, young professionals, and aspiring engineers to design, build, configure, and pilot micro FPV drone systems under real-world technical and safety constraints.
Venue
Innovation Centre Kosovo
Date: May 30-31, 2026
Starting at 10:00 AM
Challenges
Build a drone
that earns its
flight clearance.
Teams must prove that they can configure a safe and functional drone system, understand why it works, troubleshoot when it fails, and explain where the same logic can be applied in the real world
Challenge 1
Embedded Systems
BetaFlight setup, firmware flashing, receiver configuration, failsafe, arming logic, motor mapping, CLI work, and PID tuning.
Challenge 2
Hardware Repair
Frame checks, soldering, continuity testing, connector inspection, battery discipline, weight management, and repair quality.
Challenge 3
RF and Telemetry
Radio binding, VTX channel discipline, link quality awareness, RSSI, voltage data, dashboards, alerts, and optional IoT integration.
Challenge 4
Flight Control
Stable takeoff, controlled navigation, lap consistency, obstacle handling, landing accuracy, and disciplined pilot behavior.
Challenge 5
Pitching Application
Teams connect their micro-drone system to responsible use cases such as inspection, monitoring, emergency response, or logistics.
Challenge 5
Pitching Application
Teams connect their micro-drone system to responsible use cases such as inspection, monitoring, emergency response, or logistics.
Prize Pool
A total prize pool of 9,000€ will be divided among the top three teams. The prizes are tiered to recognize the strongest combination of safety, engineering, flight performance, data integration, and application thinking:
1st Place
2nd Place
3rd Place
Agenda
Orientation, Safety, Configuration, and Telemetry
Confirm teams, complete mandatory safety briefing and hardware inspection, then begin firmware, flight controller, RF, and optional telemetry setup.
- Challenge briefing and team confirmation.
- Individuals who applied solo will form or join teams during this session.
- Drone architecture and kit orientation.
- Safety briefing and acknowledgement – mandatory for all participants before any equipment handling.
- Initial hardware inspection by Safety Inspectors.
- Firmware, driver, and radio binding start.
- Flight controller configuration and motor direction checks.
- Motor mapping verification and failsafe setup.
- Pre-arm verification and arming logic testing.
- RF and VTX channel assignment.
- Optional: dashboard or telemetry setup (MQTT, RSSI monitoring, ground station integration).
Deliverables:
- Team confirmation and role assignment.
- Completed registration and initial hardware inspection log.
- Configured flight controller with verified failsafe.
- Motor mapping and arming verification log.
- Optional telemetry dashboard demonstration.
Safety Clearance, Flight Heats, Final Pitch, and Awards
Pass mandatory safety inspection, complete controlled practice and official flight heats, demonstrate telemetry integration, and deliver the final application pitch.
Tasks:
- Mandatory flight safety inspection – clearance required before any flight.
- Controlled flight practice where allowed.
- Official flight heats in the designated flight area or cage.
- Final presentation, Q&A session, and awards ceremony.
Deliverables:
- Safety clearance sign-off from Safety Inspectors.
- Live flight demonstration and scoring.
- Final pitch deck and Q&A session.
Organizing Team &
Mentors
Guidelines &
Application Criteria
The successful team must promote and demonstrate: safe execution, technical reasoning, reliable configuration, useful data integration, controlled piloting, and a convincing application story.
Organizers
This specific challenge is organized by Innovation Centre Kosovo (ICK) in partnership with Free Libre Open Source Software Kosova (FLOSSK).
Supporters
TechEco Pathway project, funded by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, implemented by Luxembourg Agency for Development Cooperation (LuxDev) in cooperation with Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI).
