DroneAid Hosts FPV Drone Assembly Workshop at the EUDIS Defence Hackathon Netherlands 2026

The DroneAid Collective will host a hands-on FPV drone assembly workshop as part of the EUDIS Defence Hackathon Netherlands 2026, taking place 26–28 March at Unmanned Valley in Valkenburg. The session will give participants the opportunity to assemble an FPV drone from individual components and gain a technical understanding of how small UAV platforms are built and configured.

DroneAid is a volunteer-driven initiative that organises workshops where participants assemble drones from separate components. The drones built during these sessions are donated to the Ukrainian Armed Forces for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions.

Engineers, technicians, veterans, and volunteers involved in the initiative share practical knowledge about drone assembly, configuration, and field deployment of small UAV platforms.

Drone assembly workshop

The DroneAid workshop will take place on Thursday, 26 March from 12:30 to 15:30 at Unmanned Valley, shortly before the hackathon begins.

During the session, participants will assemble an FPV drone step by step using a kit consisting of the main drone components. The workshop covers how the frame is assembled, how motors and electronic components are mounted, how wiring and connections are made, and how the flight controller is configured.

Participants will work with components typically used in FPV drone platforms, including frames, motors, flight controllers, electronic speed controllers, cameras, transmitters, and batteries.

The workshop is primarily intended for hackathon participants. Eight to ten seats are available and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

A limited number of external participants may also join. If places remain available, external participants can participate for a contribution of €400 per drone kit, which covers the materials and guidance during the session.

Anyone interested in joining the workshop can request a place by contacting the organisers at hackathons@groundstation.space.

Practical relevance for hackathon teams

For this spring edition the EUDIS Defence Hackathon focuses on challenges related to counter-UAS operations, including cost-effective drone interception, next-generation detection systems, and human–machine teaming concepts.

The workshop could be used to get a deeper understanding of the construction of a UAS platform and gain some first insights from Ukrainian use cases.  

Supporting DroneAid

DroneAid operates entirely through volunteer work and community support. Donations and technical contributions help the collective organise workshops and continue building drone platforms.

Those interested in supporting DroneAid can:

• contact the team via board@drone-aid.nl or LinkedIn
• make a donation to support drone production
• join the initiative as an engineer, technician, or volunteer

About the EUDIS Defence Hackathon Netherlands

The EUDIS Defence Hackathon Netherlands takes place 26–28 March 2026 at Unmanned Valley, a field lab and innovation campus located at the former Valkenburg naval air base in Zuid-Holland. For more information and REGISTRATION visit: TAIKAI. Teams with TRL 4-5 technology will be prioritised. 

During the event, teams will develop solutions addressing challenges related to airspace security and counter-UAS operations, supported by mentors from organisations including the Ministry of Defence, TNO, NLR, TU Eindhoven, and InnovationQuarter.