The 17th International Micro Air Vehicle conference and competition (IMAV 2026) recently concluded in Strasbourg, France, showcasing cutting-edge advancements in autonomous micro-drone technology.

Among the participants, the CWB Lions team, a collaboration between Professor Gao Zhi's team at Wuhan University and a team led by Ben M. CHEN at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, won the outdoor track championship and placed runner-up in the indoor track.

This year’s competition, themed around rescue operation management, drew academic and research teams from countries including Germany, France, and Spain, and featured indoor and outdoor tracks that tested the drones’ capabilities in complex environments.

Tasks included obstacle navigation, target identification, hotspot detection, precision delivery, facility inspection, large-scale environmental mapping, fire detection, and emergency supply delivery.

The competition evaluated the drones’ abilities in autonomous perception, navigation, intelligent decision-making, precise control, and operation in challenging environments, demanding high standards of autonomy, stability, and engineering performance.

Professor Gao’s team has long focused on intelligent unmanned systems and remote sensing perception, building expertise in autonomous perception, navigation, intelligent decision-making, and autonomous drone control.

Gao also leads the "Intelligent Unmanned Systems Design and Application" course at the 2026 Luojia Global Summer School, focusing on key intelligent unmanned-systems technologies, fostering technical exchange and collaboration among participating teams, and laying the groundwork for the team’s success at the competition.