Pune Students’ Drone Soars to Victory in ISRO’s ‘Fly Me on Mars’ Challenge

A team of students from Pune Institute of Computer Technology (PICT) has clinched the top spot in the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Robotics Challenge 2025, themed “Fly Me on Mars,” with an innovative autonomous drone designed to navigate the Martian surface without GPS or external navigation aids. The victory, announced on August 23 at ISRO’s U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) in Bengaluru, highlights India’s burgeoning talent in space robotics and underscores ISRO’s commitment to fostering youth innovation for interplanetary missions.

The winning team, Galactic Gearheads, comprising nine members—Aryan Shukla, Toshit Warke, Bhavika Panpalia, Atharva Joshi, Dhawal Talele, Nandini Deshmukh, Kaushal Chaudhari, Hrushikesh Patwardhan, and team leader Nimish Satav—under the mentorship of Associate Professor Dr. Sandeep Gaikwad, developed a lightweight 1.7-kilogram drone, well within ISRO’s 2-kilogram limit. The drone, built at a cost of Rs 50,000–60,000, showcased remarkable autonomous capabilities, including vertical take-off, hovering, safe landing, and return to base, all in a simulated Martian environment devoid of GPS or compass support.

The ISRO Robotics Challenge (IRoC-U 2025) tasked participants with creating an Autonomous Navigation Aerial Vehicle (ANAV) to perform complex tasks like terrain scanning and identifying safe landing zones in a Mars-like arena. Out of over 1,600 entries and 510 teams, including those from IITs and NITs, Galactic Gearheads stood out among the 16 finalists, securing a Rs 10 lakh cash prize and potential opportunities for internships and collaboration with ISRO.

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To overcome the absence of GPS, the team integrated advanced technologies, including a Raspberry Pi wide-angle camera running optical flow algorithms for localization, a 1D LiDAR for altitude measurement, and a 2D LiDAR mounted on a servo for a 110° by 160° sweep to create a 3D depth map. “We developed a low-cost approach to convert 2D LiDAR into 3D, using computer vision and gradient analysis to identify safe landing zones,” Satav explained. The team constructed a 9x12-meter Mars-like test arena on campus to rigorously test their drone across multiple scenarios, even recovering from a crash during the final round.

The achievement resonates deeply, echoing the legacy of Indian-American engineer Dr. Bob Balaram, whose NASA Ingenuity helicopter pioneered aerial exploration on Mars in 2021. The Galactic Gearheads expressed hope that their drone could contribute to India’s future Mars missions, particularly as ISRO plans a follow-up to its successful 2013 Mangalyaan mission, aiming for a soft landing on the red planet. “Our goal is to see this technology fly on Mars,” Patwardhan said.

ISRO’s challenge not only showcased the ingenuity of India’s youth but also highlighted the potential for student-developed technologies to be integrated into future missions. With India’s space program eyeing ambitious goals, including Mars landings, innovations like PICT’s drone could play a pivotal role in advancing autonomous aerial exploration.

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