UAS Technikum Wien’s Comet Drone Is Now Available As Open Source
02 July, 2026
The multicopter platform for teaching and research was developed as part of the FFG Samurai project. It features a 3D-printable frame, off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware, a build manual and flexible flight controller interfaces.
The COMET multicopter platform, developed at the Embedded Systems Competence Centre (headed by Roman Beneder), is now fully available as open source. COMET was developed under the leadership of Christoph Böhm. The version now released is the further development of the mini-prototype platform presented in 2025.
COMET (Cost-efficient Open-Source Multicopter for Embedded-Systems Teaching) is a cost-effective rapid prototyping platform for teaching in the fields of embedded systems and cyber-physical systems. The platform originated from the FFG-funded R&D project SAMURAI and was presented at IEEE EDUCON in 2026. It is also intended for hobbyists and drone enthusiasts.
Technical Features And Open-source Approach:
- The frame is fully 3D-printable, whilst the electronics rely on readily available COTS (Commercial off the Shelf) components.
- A detailed build manual provides step-by-step guidance right through to the maiden flight.
- The standardised motor interface allows the use of a wide range of embedded flight controllers – from STM32 and PSoC5/6 through to AURIX 2G and FPGA-based RISC-V platforms.
- All project files are available to the community here under open licences
- An OSHWA certification is planned and currently in preparation.
Use In Teaching And Research
COMET is used in courses within the Embedded Systems competence field as a standardised teaching and experimentation platform at various levels of education – from schools and universities to workshops – for electronics and embedded systems as well as for more advanced topics such as localisation and indoor navigation.
At UAS Technikum Wien, COMET is currently being used in several Bachelor’s and Master’s theses, including fault injection, the resilience of flight controllers and indoor positioning. Furthermore, the platform is incorporated into regular courses as a motivating practical example, for instance:
- Microcontroller Software Design in the Bachelor’s programme in Information and Communication Technologies and Services
- Electronics Systems and PCB Design in the Bachelor’s programme in Electronic Engineering
- System-on-Chip Design in the Master’s programme in Embedded Systems (including an FPGA-based COMET variant as an SoPC example)
COMET is also used in outreach activities: during the ‘Build-and-Fly’ workshop for school pupils (secondary school and HTL) as part of Electronics Days 2026, the drones were mechanically assembled, the flight controller was configured and a test flight was carried out.
Based on the open-source approach, COMET is intended to serve as a standardised teaching and experimentation platform beyond the scope of the Embedded Systems discipline and outside UAS Technikum Wien.
The COMET platform was presented in a paper (TechRxiv, presentation: IEEE EDUCON 2026) and is publicly available here.
Images of COMET:
https://cloud.technikum-wien.at/s/HcWK3ozydmtt4MS
Photo credit: UAS Technikum Wien
Contact Roman Beneder and Christoph Böhm:
roman.beneder@technikum-wien.at
christoph.boehm@technikum-wien.at
Further Information:
New COMET multicopter platform: First mini-format test prototype developed
Department of Electronic Engineering & Entrepreneurship – UAS Technikum Wien
Embedded Systems Centre of Excellence – UAS Technikum Wien
Research and Development – UAS Technikum Wien
SAMURAI research project – UAS Technikum Wien
Picture Gallery:
Flightcontroller HW Platform: STM32-based Flightcontroller
Flightcontroller HW Platform: Basys3 Board ARTIX7 FPGA-based Flightcontroller
Flightcontroller HW Platform: Aurix TC375 based Flightcontroller
Enquiries & Contact:
Lecturer/Researcher
Head of Competence Center Embedded Systems
Marketing & Communications