Students Build Real-Time Mapping System and Win Inovacijų Dirbtuvės with Unmanned Dynamics Challenge

This spring, Unmanned Dynamics returned to Inovacijų Dirbtuvės, Lithuania’s leading innovation workshop for talented students, with a challenge focused on the future of aerial data.

The goal was ambitious: Can drone imagery be transformed into usable orthomosaics in real time, directly on the edge, without relying on expensive post-processing software?

The answer came in the form of a functioning prototype built by a focused and highly capable student team.

A Collaborative Effort That Delivered

The team of Nojus Balčiūnas, Justas Macys, Adomas Jurkūnas, Viktoryia Pokalo took on the challenge and built a working system that achieved the following:

• Captured images in sync with drone flight controller signals

• Enriched each image with precise flight and sensor metadata

• Processed imagery into orthomosaics directly on embedded edge hardware using open-source tools

• Uploaded the final output to the cloud in real time for immediate access

With help from last year’s Inovacijų Dirbtuvės winner Juozas Balcikonis, who integrated the system into a drone and flew it for live tests, the team was able to demonstrate the entire pipeline in a real-world flight scenario.

What usually requires hours of post-processing and commercial tools was done mid-air, using open infrastructure.

Why This Matters

The solution directly supports the Unmanned Dynamics C3 platform, our integrated command, control, and compute system for autonomous operations. Real-time aerial mapping has immediate applications in defense, public safety, and remote sensing where speed and autonomy are critical.

This project shows that edge-first workflows are not only possible—they are effective and ready to scale.

A Win That Reflects Real Progress

The team was awarded first place at Inovacijų Dirbtuvės 2025. But the recognition is only part of the story. The real achievement lies in building a system that works, solves a real problem, and points clearly to what the future of drone-based intelligence can look like.

Thank You

Super happy to have had a chance to work with Viktoryia, Nojus, Justas, Adomas, and Juozas (again :) ) . More wins to come.

And a special thanks to Rasa from Inovacijų Dirbtuvės for creating a space where meaningful collaboration can happen. This initiative is something special, and we’re genuinely grateful to have been part of it.