The Co4AIR Marathon – A Matlab Simulated Drone Racing Competition

We describe a UAV competition concept in which a Parrot Mambo drone must race over a sequence of colored markers in minimum time. The competition is implemented in Matlab, using the Simulink Support Package for Parrot Minidrones, and can be organized fully in simulation, although an optional real-drone component is included. Students with either control or computer-science backgrounds are accommodated by providing baseline solution modules for the part outside their expertise. We present the competition design, a baseline solution, and our experience with the first edition, which was held in 2021, including student feedback and lessons learned.