UC Santa Cruz · Slugbotics
Designing, building, and flying fully autonomous aerial vehicles. No pilot required.
About Us
SOMARS — System for the Oversight and Management of Autonomous Robotics Systems — is UC Santa Cruz's competitive drone team under Slugbotics. We design, fabricate, and fly UAVs capable of fully autonomous missions, competing against top engineering programs nationwide.
Our members span computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and more — collaborating across every layer of the stack, from carbon fiber airframes to computer-vision-guided navigation.
Competitions
SOMARS enters two of the most rigorous student UAV competitions in the country, requiring fully autonomous systems capable of real-world mission performance.
01
Collegiate Unmanned Aircraft Systems Competition
Tests student teams on autonomous fixed-wing and multi-rotor operations — waypoint navigation, payload drop, and autonomous landing. Scored on mission completion, technical reports, and oral presentations.
02
Student Unmanned Aerial Systems Competition · AUVSI
One of the most prestigious student UAV competitions. Teams complete an autonomous search-and-rescue-style mission: obstacle avoidance, target identification, and payload delivery.
Our Approach
Every algorithm is validated in Gazebo before it ever touches real hardware — reducing crash risk and dramatically accelerating iteration speed.
Waypoint planning and path execution with no human input in the loop.
Real-time target detection and obstacle avoidance onboard the aircraft.
Full Gazebo-based testing environment before every real-world flight.
In-house firmware and tight flight controller integration.
Subteams
Each subteam owns a critical layer of the autonomous drone stack. Meet the full team →
Airframe design, carbon fiber fabrication, and payload systems.
Firmware, flight controllers, and autonomous controls software.
Computer vision pipelines for navigation and object detection.
Gazebo-based simulation of flight behaviors before real-world tests.
2025 – 2026 Season
Our first season competing at C-UASC and SUAS. We're developing the full autonomous flight platform — airframe to software stack — from scratch.
Get Involved
Whether you want to build, code, or fly — there's a place for you on SOMARS.