Under the direction of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Martin Mönnigmann and Prof. Dr.-Ing Aydin Sezgin, Kevin Weinberger (Chair of Digital Communication Systems) and David Müller invited the technology project course of the Ruhr-Gymnasium Witten to the ZESS research center, where the students gained their first experiences in the field of mechanical engineering and received exciting insights into research and the diverse areas of application for drones.

A short introductory lecture entitled “Drones in Research – A Look Behind the Scenes” was followed by a tour through ZESS. In addition to drone research, the students learned about numerous other exciting areas of research, as well as current and future challenges for engineers.

As part of the project course, the students had already built their own drones, which they were able to test now in a safe environment in the ACS flight lab. In addition to the actual flying, the position of the drones was recorded using a motion capture system in order to subsequently calculate speeds and accelerations. The results were evaluated and the students discussed on what constitutes a good and safe drone flight.

The 2026 student project was funded by Priority Program 2433, “Messtechnik auf fliegenden Plattformen.”

Overview