An ETH Zurich focus project building a machine-learning-driven UAV for the AIAA Design/Build/Fly competition.

Time Until Takeoff

0 months 0 days

Planes Built

3

Flights

2

Planes Crashed

3

01Core Team

The Team

The core team is a group of mechanical engineering students at ETH Zurich in the final year of their bachelor studies.

Meet the team

02Machine Learning Pipeline

From generated geometry to tested aircraft.

Parametric UAV generation, simulation, optimization and design evaluation, connected into one workflow: move from idea to prototype faster and test more options.

Our mission

03ETH Focus Project

Design, build, fly, iterate.

Project Daedalus brings together mechanical engineering students, coaches, and the Artificial Intelligence in Engineering Design Lab of ETH Zürich to build a faster path from aircraft concept to flight.

Support the project

04Road to the Competition

From first sketch to the fly-off.

  1. 14 Sep 2026 Project kickoff
  2. 21 Oct System design review
  3. 31 Oct Proposal deadline
  4. 20 Nov Acceptance notice
  5. 14 Jan 2027 Critical design review
  6. 19 Feb Design report due
  7. 25 Mar Competition plan review
  8. 15–18 Apr DBF competition

05Latest Updates

News from the airfield.

Version 0 in the air above the airfield, with a team member in a safety vest in front 5 Oct 2026 · Instagram 'Version 0', the first of many flights Our first prototype took to the sky. The lessons from this flight are already shaping the next iterations of our aircraft. Team members connecting the electronics at a workbench before the first flight 5 Oct 2026 · Instagram Getting ready for our first flight After weeks of planning and building: checklists, electronics tests and final assembly before 'Version 0' could take off. The eight members of the Project Daedalus core team LinkedIn Meet the team behind Project Daedalus Eight students at ETH Zürich, united by the goal to design, build and fly UAVs.
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