Hello Euroavians , this is AS Milano!
During the last academic year, for the very first time, we took part in the UAS Challenge 2025, one of Europe’s top competitions for student-built drones. We came home with third place overall out of forty-two international teams.
The mission
The challenge asked teams to design a drone capable of autonomously delivering humanitarian aid to areas isolated by disaster. It is the kind of task that pushes you to combine engineering, creativity, and a good amount of problem solving under pressure. The challenge covered the full development path from design to testing and included a business presentation, concluding with the Fly-Off Event the beginning of July.
The project
We began in September 2024 and worked intensively for almost a year. Our team worked on concept design, aircraft sizing, aerodynamic studies, structural development and simulations, carbon fibre lamination, assembly and flight tests. We first used a test drone to develop autonomous flight capabilities and then applied that experience to the aircraft we brought to the competition.
Throughout the project we produced detailed reports for every phase, from the Preliminary Design Report to the Flight Readiness Review.
O.L.I.V.I.A.
Our drone, named O.L.I.V.I.A. (Optimized Lightweight Intelligent Vehicle for Immediate Assistance), is a three- meter wingspan fixed-wing UAV developed for efficient autonomous deliveries. It weighs just over 5kg and can carry up to 2kg of payload. It has a traditional longitudinal configuration with an aft V-tail and tricycle landing gear. The payload, is carried inside the fuselage. We also designed three dimensional printed winglets to increase efficiency and modified the payload’s parachute so that it occupies as little space as possible.
O.L.I.V.I.A can be stored in a box measuring 1500mm by 600mm by 600mm and fully assembled in less than 5 minutes.
The Fly-Off Event
In July 2025, we headed to Buckminster, UK, for the Fly-Off Event which lasted three days.
During the competition we performed three different flights. The first was an autonomous mission that included a manual takeoff, automatic waypoint navigation, and landing. In this flight we completed two laps with the payload and two more after releasing it. Unfortunately, during the payload release the parachute did not open.
The following day was really windy, and for that reason we decided not to fly, but we were second in the flight line the next morning. The weather was perfect, we performed a manual flight, then we loaded the payload and took off for the second autonomous mission. This time we completed three laps with the payload and the parachute opened smoothly.
Through all these events and challenges, our team stayed cool and focused the whole time. For a first time entry, that was something of which we are really proud.
Results
Results were announced on the last day. Some points about safety evaluation, transport box assessment, and assembly test had not been published yet, so we really had no idea what to expect.
During the ceremony we were awarded third place overall and the Safety Award. We are equally proud of both prizes. We know that Safety might not sound glamorous, but in aerospace it means everything.
What’s next
The result we achieved pushed us to work even harder on our new project. We will participate in the Air Cargo Challenge 2026, which will take place in Stuttgart.
Right now we are finishing the design phase of our new fixed wing drone, Heméra.
We really cannot wait to share updates about the project’s evolution and the challenges we will face.