The first competition of the Leonardo Drone Contest, an Unmanned Systems Open Innovation challenge, was presented on July 1, 2020 during a digital symposium focused on technologies and drones, and in particular Artificial Intelligence applied to Unmanned Systems.

The symposium is part of a journey that began in 2019, and which will consist of three annual competitions with an ever-increasing level of complexity.
The symposium featured speeches by Laurent Sissmann, Leonardo’s Unmanned Systems Manager, Roberto Cingolani, Leonardo’s Chief Technology & Innovation Officer and representatives of the six Italian universities participating in the Leonardo Drone Contest. The six universities are Politecnico di Torino, Politecnico di Milano, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, University of Bologna, Tor Vergata University of Rome and University of Naples Federico II.

During the event, the universities, represented by six PhD students who are recipients of Leonardo scholarships and by the professors of the departments involved, presented the teams working on the project and the technological developments they have achieved and will use for the September challenge.

For more information on the Leonardo Drone Contest, visit the dedicated section on the Leonardo website.

Programme

Duration 90'

• WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION
  Federico Ferrazza, Editor-in-chief of Wired Italia
   
• COMBINING INNOVATION WITH UNMANNED SYSTEMS
  Laurent Sissmann, Unmanned Systems Manager, Leonardo
   
• THE TECHNOLOGIES AND CHALLENGES THAT WILL CHANGE THE FUTURE
  Roberto Cingolani, Chief Technology & Innovation Officer, Leonardo
   
• LEONARDO DRONE CONTEST - PRESENTATION OF UNIVERSITY TEAM PROJECTS
  With the participation of: Politecnico di Torino: Professor Giorgio Guglieri, Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace Department (DIMEAS) – Simone Godio, engineer, PhD candidate; Politecnico di Milano: Professor Marco Lovera, Department of Aerospace Sciences and Technologies – Gabriele Roggi, engineer, PhD candidate; Università di Bologna: Professor Lorenzo Marconi, "Guglielmo Marconi” Electrical Energy and Information Engineering Department  – Lorenzo Gentilini, engineer, PhD candidate; Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna di Pisa: Professor Carlo Alberto Avizzano – Edwin Paúl Herrera Alarcón, engineer, PhD candidate; Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata: Professor Fabio Del Frate, Civil Engineering and Computer Engineering Department –Francesco Conversi, engineer, PhD candidate; Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II: Vincenzo Lippiello, Professor, Electrical Engineering and Information Technology Department – Salvatore Marcellini, engineer.
   
• Moderator: Federico Ferrazza
• Q&A SESSION
• CONCLUSIONS