Making micro flying machines

Courtesy Association for Unmanned Vehicles International

A really interesting competition is happening this week in Grand Forks, N.D. Its the 6th

International Aerial Robotics Competition, featuring 13 teams of students from around the world

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built micro flying machines.

Students are competing based on a real world scenario. This year, the teams must fly into a secure building and retrieve a small computer drive filled with sensitive information.

The students spend up to a year designing and building small robotic aircraft from scratch, in hopes of successfully completing the mission.

Sponsored by the Association for Unmanned Vehicles International, this year's competition takes place at the Betty Englestad arena at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks.

Organizers say no currently existing micro aircraft can perform this years mission, but they expect one of the teams new designs to succeed and grab the $20,000 first prize.

What these students learn from the competition might well influence the next generation of military micro unmanned aircraft.

The competition wraps up on Friday.