Aerial Drone Competition
The REC Foundation Aerial Drone Competition offers an exciting educational drone sporting event focusing on hands-on, student-centered learning. The program consists of 4 distinct missions:
Teamwork: Alliances of two teams work together to score as many points as possible in 90-second matches under pilot control.
Autonomous flight: Individual drones score as many points as possible in one minute of pre-programmed autonomous operation.
Piloting skills: Individual drones score as many points as possible in one minute of pilot control.
Communications: Teams maintain a record of their work throughout the season in a Competition Logbook, and are also interviewed by judges.
Current Game: Gravity
ADC Gravity is played on a 20'x20’ field. In the teamwork mission, two teams collaborate to score as many points as possible in a 90-second match.
Teams score points by using the downdraft from their drones to move Bean Bags into Green or Blue Drop Zones, and moving Balls down the Track into Green or Blue Scoring Zones. A Color Match bonus is awarded for scoring as many Bean Bags and Balls as possible in the same-colored zones. At the end of the match, teams can earn additional points by landing their drones on cubes or landing pads.
Additionally, the autonomous flight and piloting skills missions use a separate "skills" field layout which provides a series of objects and obstacles for drones to sense and fly through.
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 proud to host Northeast Aerial Drone Championship: Dragonfly each May, hosting qualifying Aerial Drone Competition teams from 15 US States and 5 Canadian Provinces.
ADC is presented by the Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation, a US-registered 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization. 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: