Researchers from the Multi-robot Systems Group (MRS) at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the Czech Technical University in Prague and the innovative spinout Fly4Future won the prestigious AI Awards 2025. In the category AI in Research and Development, the jury recognized their extraordinary achievements in the field of autonomous flying robots, where they have been among the world’s absolute leaders in recent years.
The award was accepted by Ing. Věra Sasková on behalf of Fly4Future and Prof. Martin Saska on behalf of MRS FEE CTU on Thursday evening at the Vzlet cultural space in Prague.
The team impressed primarily with its results in the Autonomous Drone Racing League (A2RL), one of the most prestigious global competitions for autonomous drones. This year, Czech researchers managed to break into the top four teams in the world across all disciplines and win bronze in the drag race.
Combining cutting-edge research and industry
The success at the AI Awards 2025 builds on the long-term collaboration between academics and Fly4Future, which was founded as a spinout of the MRS research group operating at the Department of Cybernetics at FEE ČVUT. Fly4Future specializes in the development of autonomous aerial robots with on-board artificial intelligence. In 2024, it won the AI Company of the Year award, and in 2025, together with MRS, it confirmed its position as a European leader not only in research but also in technology transfer.
Prof. Martin Saska, head of the MRS group, adds: “Flying at this level of autonomy is one of the most demanding disciplines of AI. Our results are proof that Czech teams can compete with the best in Europe, the US, and Asia. We see the award as recognition of the entire team and the long-term cooperation between academia and industry.”
Ing. Věra Sasková from Fly4Future adds: “The systems we are developing are now finding significant practical applications—from critical infrastructure inspections to security operations. The award, and especially the fact that the committee selected us for the award two years in a row, motivates us to push the boundaries even further and expand the use of autonomous flying robots and robot teams to even more applications and fields of human activity.”
About the AI Awards 2025
The AI Awards are the most prestigious Czech awards in the field of artificial intelligence. This year, the jury evaluated 120 nominations and selected projects with the most significant impact on research, education, public administration, and business.
