An international agricultural drone competition will take place July 31 to August 2 on the Chkalov airfield near Tomsk as part of the project-based learning workshop Arkhipelag-2023.

The event is organized by Tomsk State University, with the support of the Tomsk Region Administration. Teams from Russia, Belarus, Armenia, and Kazakhstan will tackle the problems proposed by the Tomsk Region Administration, TSU Agrobiotech, and the Siberian Federal Research Center of Agro-ВioTechnologies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

“TSU is organizing this event because ensuring food security and training top engineers in agriculture are major challenges. The experimental legal mode for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) opens up new opportunities,” points out Igor Pamirsky, director of the TSU Research and Production Center Agrobiotech.

The main Arkhipelag-2023 events will be held July 28 to August 7 in the Novosibirsk Region. The participants will tackle problems including unmanned aerial systems, improving standards of living, and social development. Arkhipelag-2023 is organized by the National Technological Initiative (NTI) Platform, Novosibirsk Region Government, Agency of Social Initiatives, NTI Project Fund, and University 2035.

In 2022, the Tomsk Region was chosen as one of the five Russian experimental sites to implement UAVs for shipments, agriculture, and surveillance of critical objects. During the three-year experiment, a special legal mode has allowed operating unmanned aerial systems.

In March 2023, TSU, Glonass, a company operating the ERA-GLONASS government automated information system, and the Tomsk Region Administration signed an agreement to develop a project to improve safety, transparency of use, and accessibility of airspace for UAVs. Additionally, TSU biologists are using drones to take samples and capture aerial photos of soils in Siberia.