The CWT United team wins indoor and outdoor championships at IMAV 2025.

The 16th International Micro Air Vehicle (IMAV 2025) Conference and Competition concluded in Mexico, with the CWT United team — a collaboration between Wuhan University, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Tongji University — achieved remarkable success.

The team, led by Professor Gao Zhi from Wuhan University's School of Remote Sensing and Information Engineering and Academician Ben M CHEN from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, excelled by securing the highest scores in both indoor and outdoor categories, clinching two championships at this prestigious event.

IMAV is a globally influential drone competition, with this year's theme centered on "Disaster Search and Rescue." The event attracted over 40 teams from more than 10 countries, including the Netherlands, France, and Germany.

In the indoor segment, drones navigated simulated rubble, tackling tasks such as tunnel traversal, target recognition, and sound source localization. The outdoor competitions featured scenarios like large-scale 3D mapping, personnel search, and coordinated multi-drone transport.

The WHU team included members Gao Zhi, Guo Xinyu, and Chen Haotian, among others. Key members of the Chinese University of Hong Kong team, Wang Jialiang and Lin Zhipeng, were mentored by Professor Gao.

Gao's team has long been dedicated to research on intelligent unmanned systems and real-time intelligent remote sensing, achieving significant technological advances in surface anomaly monitoring and autonomous exploration and mapping of complex environments.