Commercial off-the-shelf, small, unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) have become ubiquitous, and the potential threat they represent in the hands of actors ranging from lone wolf terrorists to state-sponsored operatives, grows daily. The recent attempted assassination of Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro using sUAS with explosive payloads represents the natural evolution of this threat and highlights the pressing need for technology and solutions to effectively counter these systems, while diminishing the risk to innocent bystanders.

MD5, in collaboration with Army Futures Command, will host A Hack of the Drones 2018 at Capital Factory in downtown Austin, TX from September 28 – 30, 2018.

We’re looking for developers, designers, and hackers from the academic, military, and commercial start-up communities to come together for a weekend to explore non-traditional, innovative methods to counter sUAS. We’ll focus on four areas:

   • Detection of sUAS operating in waypoint mode (i.e. not actively broadcasting/communicating)
   • Novel Cyber Effects for undetected exploitation of the sUAS system, including the operator
   • Nullification of the sUAS’s ability to perform its mission without destroying the system
   • Elimination of a sUAS threat that has defeated all other cyber and electronic warfare counter-measures while minimizing risk to bystanders

Challenge area experts and technical mentors will be available to work with teams to develop their concepts. MD5 will procure a small fleet of representative commercial drones for teams to tinker with. Top teams will win up to $15,000 in awards to further develop their concept in collaboration with MD5!

Registration is now open! Get your ticket today. If you are bringing a team with you to the hackathon, each team member will need to register separately for a ticket. (And if you are not part of a team yet, no worries, we will help teams to form at the start of the event.) All meals included throughout the weekend.

Agenda

Friday Sept 28 – Voltron Room, 1st Floor

5:30 PM Registration opens

6:00 PM Dinner

6:30 PM Challenge brief, orientation

7:30 PM Team formation

9:00 PM Hacking begins

12:00 AM Facility closes

Saturday Sept 29 – 5th Floor

8:00 AM

   • Facility opens, breakfast
• Hacking Continues
• Mentoring by challenge and technical experts

12:00 PM

   • Lunch
• Hacking Continues
• Mentoring by challenge and technical experts

6:00 PM

   • Dinner
• Hacking Continues

12:00 AM Facility Closes

Sunday Sept 30 – 5th Floor

8:00 AM

   • Facility opens, breakfast
• Hacking continues
• Mentoring by pitch, presentation, and business experts

11:00 AM

   • Concepts submitted
• Judging Begins

12:00 PM Lunch and keynote speech

1:00 PM Top 5 teams present

2:00 PM Final judging

2:30 PM Award ceremony

3:00 PM Hackathon concludes

For additional event details and to sign up for a team, https://a-hack-of-the-drones.devpost.com/

All individuals who plan to participate as a hacker must register on the Devpost.

About MD5

MD5 is the Department of Defense’s National Security Technology Accelerator. Our mission is to provide a platform to cultivate the people and ideas necessary to build technology-based ventures that align national economic, security and social objectives for the good of the nation.

To learn more about MD5, visit www.MD5.net or send us an email at info@md5.net