From May 1-3, the SPADE EU Project proudly joined the 11th edition of Shift APPens, Portugal’s longest-running hackathon, as a Gold Partner. This incredible three-day journey brought together brilliant young minds, a passion for technology, and a shared mission to shape the future of drone innovation in agriculture, forestry, and livestock.
Our Challenge: Drone Navigation & Mapping in Forest-like Environments
We launched a hands-on challenge for participants to design an autonomous drone system capable of navigating from point A to B through cluttered or constrained environments—like forests. The system had to ensure fast, collision-free flight while generating a real-time map of its surroundings. A real “cage” was set up to test the algorithms in action, with students debugging live and watching their drones either hover in place—or crash dramatically!
The Winners
We are proud to congratulate Ana Leonor Filipe and Meryem Koç, two outstanding female IT scientists, for winning the SPADE Challenge. Their creative coding, persistence, and collaboration stood out in this intense competition. Their win also marks a significant step toward greater diversity in tech, a value close to SPADE and the European Commission’s mission.
Why It Matters
Beyond the fun and the flights, this hackathon was a unique opportunity to:
- 📣 Present the SPADE EU Project and its Open Call 2
- 🌍 Connect drone innovation to the goals of open source and sustainability
- 💬 Interact with 300+ students from across Portugal and beyond
- 🔗 Launch potential new collaborations with faculty, student associations, and tech communities
Relive the Moments
