The Breslau-based company set a new record for how much a small drone can lift, with its 29-pound Katana drone carrying 112 pounds of cast iron, nearly four times its weight. The company placed first among 61 teams competing over seven days in Dayton, Ohio, taking home a US$1.25-million prize. (The Logic)

Talking point: The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) had challenged participants to carry four times their drone’s weight. Hitting that ratio could “unlock a whole new range of possibilities for both military and civilian applications,” according to DARPA. Avidrone fell just shy of that with a 3.84:1 ratio. Since no team hit the target, all prize money was cut in half. Avidrone won with a conventional helicopter-style aircraft that’s been common since the 1940s, beating out newer designs meant specifically for carrying disproportionately heavy loads. MTech Operations from MIT placed second, with a 32-pound drone carrying 3.64 times its weight. California-based Xtreme Aerial Concepts came third, carrying 3.45 times the weight of its 55-pound drone.   

Sponsored Content

The real-world economic offshoots of sovereign AI

By Deborah Aarts

Increasing healthcare access across Canada

By Deborah Aarts

What it takes to lead a frontier firm

By Deborah Aarts

Paid promotional content