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Qualifying Criteria for Aerial Drone Competition Events

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Registration & Event Requirements

Event Types

Tournaments - Tournaments are events that have Qualification and Elimination Matches for Aerial Drone Competitions. 

Leagues - Leagues are events that have Ranking Sessions for teams to play Qualifying Matches, and then a League Finals Session to determine the League Champions. 

For events (Tournaments or Leagues) to be official and have results posted on RobotEvents.com, they must meet the following criteria.

  1. Events must be listed as a Tournament or a League with online registration posted on RobotEvents.com. All attending teams must be registered and paid on RobotEvents.com for the current season.
  2. Official events must follow the rules and guidelines in these documents and manuals:
    • Competition Manual including Inspection and Event guidelines
    • Judge Guide including appendices and judging rubrics
    • Referee Guide
    • Commitment to Event Excellence
    • Code of Conduct and Student-Centered Policy
  3. Events must have at least 12 registered teams.
    • Individual league ranking sessions may have less than 12 teams participating if the league has 12 registered teams.
  4. Events must offer all 4 Missions
    • Teamwork Mission
    • Piloting Skills Mission
    • Autonomous Flight Skills Mission
    • Communications Mission
  5. Events must offer the opportunity for teams to run 6 Autonomous Flight Skills and 2 Piloting Skills Missions.
  6. Events must offer the opportunity for all teams to be interviewed for the Communications Mission.
  7. Events must have a minimum of 4 Qualification Matches per Team. 
    • The suggested number of Qualification Matches per Team for a tournament is 6.
  8. Championship events must have a minimum of 8 Qualification Matches per Team.
    • The suggested number of Qualification Matches per Team for a championship is 10.
  9. Finalized Tournament Manager results (Tournament and League Final Sessions) must be uploaded/finalized within 48 hours of event completion.

From time to time, the Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation may make an exception to one of these criteria to better support a growing State/Province/Region/Nation.

Awards & Judging

Events with 18 or more teams are required to offer all 5 judged award

  • Excellence
  • Flight Operations
  • Think
  • Inspire
  • Judges

 Events with less than 18 teams are required to offer at least 3 judged awards

  • Excellence
  • Flight Operations
  • Judges

Dates and Deadlines

Official events must abide by the following dates and deadlines:

  1. Events must occur between September 30, 2023 and March 17, 2024.
  2. Posting Deadline: Events must be approved by December 1, 2023.  The REC Foundation Aerial Drone Competition Program Manager may waive this requirement when needed.

From time to time, the Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation may make an exception to one of these criteria to better support a growing State/Province/Region/Nation

Aerial Drone Competition Championship

Official Tournaments and Leagues with at least 12 registered teams will be assigned spots to advance teams to their Regional Championship.  

More details on 2024 Regional Championship dates, locations and how to qualify will be posted on or around October 1, 2023.

Last updated August 9, 2023