Winning Solutions Advance the Future of Aerial Intelligence for Agriculture, Environmental Protection, Public Safety, Transportation, and Beyond

SHENZHEN, China, Aug. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- DJI, the global leader in civilian drones and creative camera technology, today announced the winners of the DJI Enterprise Drone Onboard AI Challenge 2026. Opened to entries in early 2026, this global challenge aimed to redefine the future of aerial intelligence by bridging the gap between gathering data points and turning them into insights that drive decisive action. Ten distinguished experts from the AI and drone industries judged the submissions, naming 5 Best Onboard AI Model Award winners and 10 Industry Application Excellence Award winners. 

Frontline operators understand their industries' needs and are best positioned to develop practical applications for our products. For this reason, DJI Enterprise has opened our drone SDK and computing power to support customized AI applications. With access to onboard chip computing power, algorithm deployment tools, and simplified model customization, operators can run AI models directly on their DJI Enterprise drone platforms and adapt the technology to a broader range of field scenarios.

The challenge recognizes the most innovative solutions using the onboard AI algorithm that can be deployed on DJI Enterprise drones (Matrice 4/4D Series, Dock 3, Matrice 400) or the Manifold 3 platform. Participants were encouraged to develop solutions with real-world applications in various industries, from agriculture to public safety. 

Delivering Real-World Solutions with AI-Enabled Flights

Winning solutions ranged from tracing air pollution and helping identify beach litter and cracks on bridges to supporting search-and-rescue operations and counting crops from the air. 

Daniel Tovar's "AgroCount AI – Onboard Crop Counting System" was developed and validated at Finca La Suiza, a 50-hectare commercial banana plantation in Colombia. It combines drone technology, computer vision, and geospatial analysis to automate a process that traditionally requires four to six field workers for four days or around seven days of manual counting from aerial imagery. The planned architecture pairs the DJI Matrice 4E with the Manifold 3 to process imagery and GPS-tag plants onboard during flight. The project shows how edge AI can turn aerial data into actionable information in the field, making crop monitoring faster and more precise. 

Another example is Hangzhou New Modal Technology Co.'s "9-in-1 Onboard Fusion Algorithm + Edge-Cloud Collaborative Smart Transportation Full Closed-Loop Inspection", developed in China on DJI FlightHub 2 and Manifold 3 platforms. The solution combines nine critical inspection capabilities across traffic enforcement, road maintenance, facility management, and traffic flow control. The integrated system demonstrates how AI complements drone technology to support more efficient, comprehensive, and closed-loop traffic management – from automated detection and evidence collection to alerting and resolution. 

Challenge Winners

The Challenge recognized winners in two categories:

Best Onboard AI Model

Five winners received the Best Onboard AI Model Award, recognizing outstanding AI models developed for deployment on DJI enterprise drone and onboard computing platforms: 

• Aoshi Cangqiong
• Cheng'an Zhilian (Chongqing) Information Technology Co., Ltd.
• Hangzhou New Modal Technology Co., Ltd.
• Huineng Technology
• Zhongke Beiwei (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd.

Industry Application Excellence Award

Ten winners received the Industry Application Excellence Award, recognizing solutions that apply onboard AI to practical industry challenges:

• Bridge Inspection Master
• Chongqing Guangruida Technology Co., Ltd.
• Daniel Tovar
• East China Normal University Estuarine and Coastal Data Center Team
• Lanzhou University Grass Flying Team
• Muniu Hetu Algorithm Team
• Shangtejie AI R&D Department
• Shenzhen Public Welfare Rescue Volunteer Federation (SRVF)
• Sky Patrol Smart Inspection
• Wuhan Luanchuang Digital Technology Co., Ltd.

In addition to receiving DJI products, winners will also receive global exposure through DJI Enterprise's official channels, inclusion in the Onboard AI Solutions Catalog, and fast-track access to the DJI Enterprise Ecosystem partner audit, with opportunities including new-product beta testing and direct technical support.

Learn More: https://developer.dji.com/innovation-contest/ 

About DJI

Since 2006, DJI has led the world with civilian drone innovations that have empowered individuals to take flight for the first time, visionaries to turn their imagination into reality, and professionals to transform their work entirely. Today, DJI serves to build a better world by continuously promoting human advancement. With a solution-oriented mindset and genuine curiosity, DJI has expanded its ambitions into areas such as renewable energy, agriculture, public safety, surveying and mapping, and infrastructure inspection. In every application, DJI products deliver experiences that add value to lives around the world in more profound ways than ever before. 

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