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Rules and Laws

Your participation in Aerospace Jam 2025-26 will be governed by federal and state laws, school district policies, and competition rules. Please read these laws and rules carefully before starting work on your drone platform and before any testing or flights. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have questions about applicable laws or competition rules at any point during the competition year.

Heads up!

Balancing of the scoring sections may occur after the start of the season, and point values for various sections of the competition are subject to change.

Laws​

Federal, State, and Local Drone/UAS Laws​

All teams are required to comply with all federal, state, and local laws regarding the flight and operation of drones/unmanned aerial systems. Note that all FAA rules and Wisconsin laws for drones are only applicable for operating outside of a building. If you only fly your drone indoors (as we recommend), these rules and laws do not apply.

If you want to fly your drone outside, you’ll need to both register your drone and complete the requirements for a recreational drone pilot (including required safety test). Note that some local laws may place additional restrictions on outdoor flights.

tip

We recommend that all teams restrict their flights to indoor spaces to avoid the relatively complex rules governing outdoor flight.

Indoor Flight

Only fly your drone indoors with ample room and safety barriers. If you do not have the means to set up ample room or safety precautions, then do not fly your drone indoors under any circumstances.

District/School Policies​

All teams are required to comply with school district rules and policies regarding flight and operation of drones/unmanned aerial systems on school property and within school buildings.

Please review your school's and your district's drone policies before flying your drone in any capacity.

Safety​

The drone you will be provided, while relatively safe, is still capable of causing injury. Teams are modifying the drone to carry a payload, which may cause it to fly erratically and potentially out of control. During the competition, we will require the use of protective eyewear and appropriate clothing for all teams competing, and we strongly encourage the use of eye protection and appropriate clothing for all participants during the testing of any indoor or outdoor flights.

danger

Make sure to read the Getting Started guide's appendix entirely before flying your drone.

Battery Safety​

Lithium Polymer (LiPo) batteries, which power your drone, require careful handling to prevent fire, injury, or property damage. All teams must adhere to the following battery safety protocols:

Before you charge!

Always be sure to read and review the manual for the charger and for your batteries to ensure that the charger is correctly set. If the charger is incorrectly set for the connected battery, explosions and fires have and will occur.

  • All LiPo batteries must be charged correctly with the charger provided in the kit or a compatible smart charger with a balance function. Never leave charging batteries unattended. Stop charging immediately if you notice any swelling, smoke, or unusual heat.
  • When not in use, batteries must be stored in a LiPo-safe bag or a fire-resistant container, away from flammable materials. During transport to and from the competition, ensure batteries are protected from physical damage and short circuits.
  • If a battery is dropped, dented, punctured, or shows any sign of swelling ("puffing"), it must be immediately and safely taken out of service. Do not attempt to charge or use a damaged battery. Please bring any damaged batteries to a competition official for proper disposal.

Emergency Procedures​

In the event of a malfunction or unsafe flight, all team members must be prepared to act immediately.

  • All pilots must know how to perform an emergency motor stop. This procedure is demonstrated for the standard RadioLink AT10II controller that is issued to all teams in the Getting Started guide and must be practiced by the team's pilot. This is the first action to take if the drone becomes uncontrollable.
  • If a drone crashes, the pilot must immediately perform the emergency motor stop. No team member may enter the practice or competition arena to retrieve a drone until a judge or official has confirmed the drone is disarmed and has given explicit permission to enter.
  • A first aid station will be clearly marked and available at the competition venue. Please report any and all injuries, no matter how minor, to a competition official.

Competition Rules​

note

Any questions regarding competition rules and regulations should be directed to the support channel in the official Discord server. If clarification on rules proves necessary, updates will be pushed to this page.

  • Teams are comprised of 2-10 students (grades 7 and up) and an adult (18+) mentor responsible for the safety of the student. Student members may be added or changed at the adult mentor's discretion. Changing of the adult mentor requires notification of competition organizers.
    • A single adult may act as a mentor for up to 5 teams, but no more. If a single adult mentor would like to compete with more than 5 teams, please contact competition organizers for assistance. We may also require additional adult mentors if they mentor multiple large (9-10 student) teams, on a case-by-case basis.
    • Teams do not necessarily need to be affiliated with a school, and may be independently formed as long as there are 2-10 students (grades 7 and up) and an adult mentor responsible for them.
  • Teams may seek and use outside help in the construction and coding of their drone platform from any source. However, all programming specific for the competition must be done by student team members, NOT mentors. Publicly available libraries, code examples, and generic code available on public forums, as well as the examples in this documentation are allowed. In other words, all code that is written specifically for the tasks within this competition that is not already available in this documentation must be done by student members.
  • All written portions must be completed and submitted by the deadline published on the front page of the docs. Codebases should also be submitted by this date.
  • Codebases will be published either on GitHub as public repositories (optionally under open-source licenses) or sent as complete ZIP files (including the .git folder). If you are having any issues submitting your codebase, extensions on the deadline may be given. If you make any modifications to your codebase after submitting it, you do not need to re-submit it.
  • Code for the competition may be written in any language, as long as it can be submitted for judging. Code examples and tutorials will be provided in Python, and as such Python will be the primary language the SDK supports. Support in meetings for other languages will be provided, but not with as much priority.
    • Please respect judges' time and please avoid submitting code in languages that are extremely esoteric, difficult to read, niche, or otherwise time or soul-consuming to judge.
  • Teams may use 3D printers or 3D printing services (e.g. Shapeways) to make components for their drone platforms except for components that are integral to flying the drone (e.g. propellers).
  • Only stock parts may be used for drone control and flying components. This exception excludes the "legs" (landing gear) of the drone, and any other peripheral non-flight segments of the drone. They may be removed, modified, or replaced as long as the ability of the drone to safely fly and land is not compromised, and the lithium ion battery is not exposed.
  • The microcontroller must broadcast its own Wi-Fi network unique to the team during the competition and it shall not attempt to interfere with any other teams' networks. Microcontrollers may not connect to the Internet during the competition, but they may during development prior to the start of the team's competition at the event.
  • Teams may not modify the drone flight controller and/or radio in any way. Drones may not autonomously fly, or use any form of autopilot.
  • Teams may only use the drone, microcontroller, and sensor kit provided by the competition. They may not use alternative drones or alternative sensors (e.g. higher accuracy). Replacement sensors may be purchased but no more than the number provided in the original kit may be used on the drone during the competition. Additional lights, decorations and other customizations that do not interfere with flight or sensor operation are encouraged and will benefit your design scoring.
  • Practice arenas that mimic the competition arena with minor differences will be available in advance for teams to practice flight and test their drone's operation in.
    • Usage of such arenas will be on a strict time block schedule managed by an Aerospace Jam team member. Depending on demand, practice slots may be lengthened or shortened, but no extensions will be issued on practice slots already scheduled.
  • Team members may not enter the arena competition space unless explicitly authorized, and may not retrieve non-functioning drones until the drones are disarmed and they are told to do so and let into the arena by a judge.
  • Propeller guards are not required during the competition, but are recommended if included in your drone kit. When flying in the practice arenas, we graciously ask that you use propeller guards for the safety of others who may be passing by the practice arenas, but if you don't have them it's fine.
  • Propellers should not be attached to drones until you're ready to fly or compete. Additionally, you should transport your drone without propellers to avoid breakage. All teams are provided a fixed number of propellers in their kit, and if more than are provided are broken, teams will have to pay a small fee for replacements.
  • All teams must use the drone kit provided to them by the competition organizers. This is, in most cases, the S500 frame. However, exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis. The drone's total weight at takeoff, including any team-added components and payload, must not exceed 3kg. The drone's frame dimensions may not be modified beyond what is allowed for landing gear.
  • Any payload carried by the drone must be securely attached, unless explicitly designed to detach. The payload must not contain any hazardous materials, including but not limited to liquids, sharp objects, or flammable substances. The total weight and dimensions of the payload must not compromise the drone's flight stability. Judges reserve the right to inspect and disallow any payload deemed unsafe.
  • Before the start of each competition match, teams will be required to complete a brief pre-flight inspection with a judge. This will include verifying battery connection, propeller security, and payload attachment to ensure the drone is safe for flight.
  • Usage of large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude is allowed (although discouraged) for code, but is not allowed for the written portions of the competition. Suspicions of LLM usage in written portions will only have action taken in the case of egregious violations, at the judges' discretion.
    • If you use an LLM obviously on your Engineering Notebook, judges will absolutely laugh at you behind your back. Be warned. It's also usually very obvious when you use LLMs for your code - and this will be a detriment to your originality and code Design Scoring.
  • Any team suspected of cheating, e.g. disallowed drone modification, receiving competition arena information early, may be subject to point penalties and/or complete disqualification from the competition, at judges' discretion.
  • A three-judge panel will assess any penalties.

The Aerospace Jam Ethos​

The Aerospace Jam Ethos is the foundation of our competition community. It is designed to create a positive, collaborative, and highly educational environment for everyone involved. All participants, including students, mentors, volunteers, and spectators, are expected to uphold these principles.

  • Passionate Competition, Mutual Respect: We expect teams to bring their best ideas and compete with passion, while always treating fellow teams, mentors, volunteers, and judges with courtesy and respect.
  • Collaboration Over Confrontation: This is a community where knowledge is shared. Teams are encouraged to help and support one another, because a problem solved for one team is a victory for the entire competition. Success is not just about winning, but about elevating the entire community.
  • Integrity Above All: Uphold the highest standards of honesty and fair play. Success achieved through integrity is the only kind that matters.

Actions that go against this ethos, such as poor sportsmanship, taunting, or intentional disruption of another team's efforts, will not be tolerated and may result in penalties or disqualification at the judges' discretion.

Spectator Conduct​

Spectators are welcome and encouraged, but they must remain in designated viewing areas. Spectators may not interfere with teams, judges, or the competition arena in any way.

Dispute Resolution​

If a team has a question or concern about a ruling, their adult mentor should approach the head judge respectfully and professionally after the match is complete. The head judge's decision on all rulings is final. To ensure fairness and timeliness, judges will not review video recordings or other evidence provided by teams.

Submitting Your Codebase/Notebook​

In order to submit your engineering notebook and your codebase for design scoring (click either link for individual submission guidelines for that section), you have a few options. You can either:

  • Send links, files, or links to files on cloud file-sharing services (such as Google Drive) to organizers on the Discord
  • Or the same, but with an email

In order to have your codebase and notebook recieved, please ONLY send your submissions to Henry - either via @n3rdl0rd on Discord, or to henrymartin.co@outlook.com via email. In order to send a message on Discord without being filtered for spam, you should also be part of the Aerospace Jam Discord. If this is infeasible, please reach out via email instead. Keep in mind that all deadlines are published on the front page of the docs.