We’re excited to announce that team flyby—a team of students from TU Wien and the non-profit robotics club robo4you.at—has won the Best 3D Mapping Award at ENRICH 2025!

ENRICH is an international robotics competition that aims to accelerate the development of innovative robotic solutions for high-risk radiological and nuclear environments where human intervention is too dangerous. This year marks the 5th time that ENRICH has taken place, and at a fitting (yet unusual) venue: The hackathon was held at the nuclear power plant in Zwentendorf, the only nuclear power plant in the world that is fully built but has never been activated. The plant remains completely intact, offering a uniquely realistic yet hazard-free environment for testing robotic systems under extreme and challenging conditions.

ENRICH is organized by the Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics (FKIE), the Austrian Armaments and Defence Technology Agency (ADTA), EVN, and European Robotics. At ENRICH 2025, over 15 teams from around the world competed in four categories that tested their robotic systems’ ability to navigate, sense, and operate in challenging radiological and nuclear environments: Radiation Mapping, 3D Mapping, Manipulation, and Search and Rescue.

Flying a Drone in a Nuclear Power Plant

Operating a drone inside a nuclear power plant presents unique technical challenges, and this year, the competition was even more demanding, as both aerial and ground robots shared the same dynamic and complex environment. The Radiation Mapping task was mandatory for all teams, as it builds the foundation of the competition, and yes—real radioactive sources were used! These sources, placed throughout the power plant by the Austrian Armed Forces, were only accessible by robots, creating a high-stakes scenario for locating and mapping their position and radiation intensity. In the 3D Mapping category, teams needed to create detailed spatial maps of the power plant using autonomous systems. This year, for the first time, both ground robots and aerial drones operated in the same environment, with some areas only accessible to aerial robots, creating unique navigation challenges. Meanwhile, in the Manipulation and Search and Rescue tasks, ground robots were tasked with opening and closing valves and rescuing human-sized dummies weighing up to 70 kg.