Autonomous Racing League 2025 (A2RL)
About the competition
The Autonomous Racing League (A2RL) is a pioneering international competition combining cutting-edge autonomous drone technology with the thrill of motorsports. The inaugural event took place on April 11–12, 2025, in Abu Dhabi, hosted by ASPIRE and the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League initiative. The competition brings together leading academic and industrial teams to push the limits of artificial intelligence, autonomy, and high-speed aerial navigation.
The Czech team was selected as one of 10 global finalists to participate in the drone racing challenge (total of 210 teams).
Our team: Fly4Future & MRS CTU
Martin Saska, Robert Pěnička, Ondřej Procházka, Parakh Gupta, Matěj Petrlík, Swati Dantu, Marek Vlasák, Matej Novosad, Filip Novák, Michal Pliska
The team representing the Czech Republic was a collaboration between Fly4Future, a high-tech company specializing in autonomous systems, and the Multi-Robot Systems Group (MRS) at CTU in Prague.
Together, Fly4Future and MRS competed against top institutions including KAUST, Georgia Tech, and the University of Zurich.
The team brought to the race its deep experience with agile autonomous navigation in complex environments, combining industrial innovation with cutting-edge academic research.
Challenge and rules
- Teams were required to develop an autonomous racing drone capable of flying aggressively without human intervention.
- The drone had to navigate through a large indoor stadium track with sharp turns, gates, and obstacles.
- Teams had access to training data and track maps in advance but had to rely entirely on onboard autonomy during the race.
Key dates
- Call for participation: July 2024
- Qualification phase: October–December 2024
- Finals: April 11–12, 2025, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Organizers
The A2RL Drone Racing Challenge is organized by:
- ASPIRE – Abu Dhabi’s advanced technology program
- A2RL (Autonomous Racing League) initiative
More information can be found on the official A2RL website.
Media coverage of our Autonomous Racing League participation
