Drone technology is advancing faster than ever—and this is your chance to be part of it. Fly or Die is a Estonia's first drone hackathon & seminar that brings together university students, researchers, and industry to build, test, and showcase real solutions.
Look at the 18.10 hackathon gallery
Over two weeks, teams develop solutions to real partner challenges in areas like autonomous navigation, sensor fusion, object detection, safety & reliability, and hardware innovation. The journey starts with a kickoff on 18 October, continues with mentoring and a co-working day on 22 October, and culminates on 1 November with live demos, partner talks, and final pitches—including indoor drone flights in a controlled environment.
Why join?
- Work on real problems from leading partners.
- Build solutions in software and hardware (simulation or micro-drone; limited shared rigs on site).
- Mentoring from Estonia’s drone and defence experts.
- Showtime: live demo in front of jury, partners, and audience.
- Prizes & opportunities: internships, gear, and collaboration paths.
Who is it for?
- Primarily university students (BSc–PhD).
- Developers, engineers, data scientists, makers - anyone ready to build.
- Scale: About 50–100 participants to keep mentoring and safety tight while still delivering serious energy on demo day.
- We welcome all drone enthusiasts to the TalTech Sports Hall as spectators on the final day.
Key dates:
- 18 Oct – Kickoff & challenge selection | Location: TalTech Student House; Ehitajate tee 5
- 22 Oct – Co-working & mentor checkpoint | Location: TalTech Student House; Ehitajate tee 5
- 1 Nov – Finale: partner talks, demos, awards | Location: TalTech Sport's Building; Männiliiva tn 7
*Participant tickets include access to all 3 event days
** Visitor access is available only for the final event on 1 November
The event is organized by TalTech School of IT, Embedded AI Research Lab in collaboration with TalTech Center for Defence and Security Technologies and Estonian Research Council (ETAG).
Our sponsors are: KrattWorks, Droon.ee, the Estonian Defence League, the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences, the Estonian Aviation Academy, Robotex, ProDroneParts.eu, Tehnopol, Sparkup Tartu Science Park, Babayte OÜ, Metrosert, AlphaGis
Schedules
| Time | Activity | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 12:30 | Doors open, registration, snacks & gathering | 0:30 |
| 13:00 | Welcome & intro | 0:10 |
| 13:10 | Keynote / partner pitch | 0:10 |
| 13:20 | Overview of event format & schedule | 0:15 |
| 13:35 | Challenge Introductions by Partners (2 min pitch + 1 min Q&A × 17) | 0:55 |
| 14:30 | Break / refreshments | 0:15 |
| 14:45 | Challenge Wall + Team Formation | 0:30 |
| 15:15 | Mentor assignments | 0:25 |
| 15:40 | Short team–mentor meeting | 0:20 |
| 16:00 | Wrap-up: next steps, announcements | 0:20 |
| 16:20 | Optional networking / icebreaker | 0:40 |
| 17:00 | Official end (room open for informal mingling) | — |
| Time | Activity | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 16:00–17:00 | Visitor arrival | Doors open. Explore partner booths and meet teams working on prototypes. |
| 17:00–19:00 | Partner presentations | Talks from leading Estonian drone and AI organizations. |
| 17:30–19:00 | Networking opportunity | Light dinner for participants and partners; visitors welcome to mingle and observe. |
| 19:00–22:00 | Demo showcase & awards | See the final prototypes in action, meet the winners, and celebrate innovation. |
Our sponsors
