Victory at the EUDIS Hackathon: Our Members Lead the Way in Defense Innovation
2024-05-31Summary: Two members won the EUDIS Hackathon in Milan, impressing the EU jury with their cutting-edge swarm technology solution that provides real-time 3D maps to European forces using unmanned vehicles. Competing against Master’s and PhD students, they were the victors in Italy.
On May 31, 2024, the EU Defence Innovation Schema (EUDIS) Hackathon, the official defense hackathon of the EU, took place in Milan, Italy. Our gifted student program was represented by Ben Koska and Leander Klinger, who successfully developed an innovative solution that impressed the EU jury within just 48 hours. Despite competing against Master’s and PhD students, Ben and Leander were selected as the winning team in Italy, making them one of only six teams chosen across all of Europe.
Their solution harnesses swarm technology combined with cost-effective unmanned vehicles, such as drones, to provide European forces with detailed 3D maps of the surrounding terrain or even full interiors of nearby buildings in less than two minutes after deployment.
All this critical information is delivered directly to a tablet for immediate use by field personnel. Using language models (LLMs), users can ask questions about the environment via chat or even voice commands, such as, “Where is the nearest building?”
This project showcases the seamless integration of security and innovation. Ben and Leander have proven that extraordinary ideas can be realized in record time. Their victory at the EUDIS Hackathon not only demonstrates the potential of modern technology to enhance the safety of European forces but also highlights the remarkable skills of our gifted students, even when compared to doctoral candidates.