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Our Story

Founded
February 2024
Core
4 founders
Verticals
4 verticals

We are SUAS IITM, the Student Unmanned Aerial Systems team at IIT Madras and the institute's first international aerial robotics team. Founded in February 2024, we grew from four founders into a multidisciplinary team across four verticals.

Founding core

The first four.

Rohan Shah, Yash Shajil, Mohnish M, and Charukhesh B.R formed the founding core that started SUAS IITM in February 2024.

01Takeoff

The Origins

SUAS IITM was founded in February 2024 with a four-member core. Within a year it grew into a multidisciplinary team across four verticals, becoming IIT Madras's first international aerial robotics team.

The early SUAS IITM team at IIT Madras
The origins · IIT Madras, 2024
02Operational HQ

Where We Work

Our base is the AE-GNC Laboratory in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at IIT Madras. Design, fabrication, and outdoor flight testing all happen on campus, steps from the lab.

SUAS IITM members working together in the workshop
Design and integration · AE-GNC Laboratory
03Proven in the Field

SUAS 2025

At our first international outing in Maryland we placed 8th globally for the Technical Design Report and 23rd overall out of 70+ teams. We cleared safety inspection on the first attempt, assembled in under 2.5 minutes, and flew a flawless 29 minute 33 second autonomous mission with zero crashes.

Team IIT Madras with the Indian flag at the RoboNation banner, SUAS 2025, Maryland
SUAS 2025 · Patuxent River, Maryland
04Trajectory Ahead

Storm Response, 2026

For SUAS 2026 in Tulsa, the team is developing Falcon for the Storm Response challenge. The aircraft uses a folding quadcopter airframe, ROS 2 avionics, onboard perception, aerial mapping, and payload delivery.

SUAS IITM developing the Falcon aircraft for 2026
Falcon 2026 UAV · flight qualified, testing continues
Envision.Innovate.Iterate.
SUAS IITM · operating principle

In the field

The team, in pictures.

The full team behind the 2025 UAV at the SUAS 2025 competition tent
The full team, SUAS 2025
Team IIT Madras with the Indian flag at the RoboNation banner
Flying the flag, Maryland
The team with the SUAS IITM banner and the 2025 UAV at the competition
The team with the 2025 UAV
Assembling the 2025 UAV in the team tent
Assembly in the tent
Outdoor flight testing at IIT Madras
Flight testing on campus
The 2025 UAV with the Indian flag at the competition
The 2025 UAV and the tricolour

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The journey

A year in motion.

The people, build nights, testing, and first international competition behind SUAS IITM.

The Journey, Team IIT Madras

Proven in the field

SUAS 2025 results.

  1. 018th globally, Technical Design Report
  2. 0218th globally, Team Website
  3. 0323rd globally, Mission Demonstration and Overall
  4. 0429:33 flawless autonomous flight, zero crashes
  5. 05Safety inspection cleared on the first attempt
  6. 06Full system assembled in under 2.5 minutes

Trajectory ahead

2026 roadmap.

  • 01SUAS 2026, Skyway Range, Tulsa, Oklahoma, week of September 14
  • 02AeroTHON 2026 with SAEINDIA, domestic debut across Track 1 and Track 2
  • 03Develop and test Falcon's folding quadcopter airframe and ROS 2 autonomy stack