We are pleased to announce that on 17 October 2025, the final review of the AeroStream project was successfully completed, and the unanimous conclusion of all present was that the project was a "great success". This three-year project aimed to improve the quality of innovation management, technology transfer, and citizen involvement at HEIs from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina . Numerous partners participated: University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (project coordinator), University of Zagreb Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Zagreb Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, Protostar Labs (Croatia), Innovation Centre Nikola Tesla (Croatia), University of Sarajevo - Faculty of Electrical Engineering (Bosnia and Herzegovina), University of Seville (Spain), CTA - Technological Corporation of Andalusia (Spain), FADA-CATEC - Advanced Center for Aerospace Technologies (Spain), University of Twente (Netherlands), and Czech Technical University in Prague - Faculty of Electrical Engineering. We believe that this successful cooperation will lead to many more fruitful collaborations in the future.

The students' team work " Design and development of a three-wing rotary unmanned aerial vehicle ", submitted by Toni Vuković , Teo Putarek , and Marko Šimić  under the mentorship of  Prof. Matko Orsag , has been awarded the  Rector's Award of the University of Zagreb in the field of Technical Sciences for the academic year 2024/2025 . The work covers all phases of the development of an unmanned aerial system with a specific rotational configuration, from motivation and literature review, through mechanical and electronic design, software development, and communication algorithms, to experimental testing and discussion of results. In addition to ensuring stable flight, the system incorporates a unique safety mechanism based on autorotation of the three-wing design, enabling controlled and safe descent in the event of propulsion loss. The work was conducted in the Laboratory for Robotics and Intelligent Control Systems (LARICS). Congratulations on your remarkable success!

The students' work " BerryBot: Autonomous Soft Robotic System for Raspberry Harvesting ", submitted by Leticija Crnković and Antonio Čogelja under the mentorship of Prof. Matko Orsag , has been awarded the Rector's Award of the University of Zagreb in the field of Technical Sciences for the academic year 2024/2025 . The work includes a description of the development of a complete robotic system for raspberry harvesting, covering the theoretical foundations, the design of a soft gripper, and the autonomous control of the robot in both simulation and real-world conditions. The work was developed in the Laboratory for Robotics and Intelligent Control Systems (LARICS) and carried out with the support of the Regional Centre of Excellence for Robotic Technologies CRTA . Congratulations on your remarkable success!

As an example of a successful project, AeroStream was selected for the WIDERA Feedback to Policy Workshop , which took place in Brussels on October 2, 2025.  During the workshop, Prof. Tamara Petrović had the unique opportunity to present AeroStream project outcomes directly to national policymakers (WIDERA Programme Committee, ERA Forum, and Research Working Party), National Contact Points (NCPs), and the European Commission (Directorate-General for Research and Innovation and the REA). The workshop fostered community building, knowledge sharing, and helped shape future WIDERA policy.

From September 2 to September 5, 2025 , three members of our laboratory Marin Maletić, Antonella Barišić Kulaš, and Nikica Perić presented their research at the European Conference on Mobile Robots 2025 (ECMR 2025) , held in Padua, Italy. ECMR is a biennial conference that brings together leading researchers in the field of mobile robotics. This year’s edition recorded the largest number of in person participants so far, providing an excellent opportunity for knowledge exchange and discussion of the latest advances in the field. Our laboratory was strongly represented through three research contributions: Marin Maletić, Marijana Peti, Tamara Petrović and Stjepan Bogdan. "Spatial Semantic Reasoning using Large Language Models for Efficient UAV Search Operations" Preprint: https://zenodo.org/records/15847320   Antonella Barišić Kulaš, Andreja Jurasović and Stjepan Bogdan "Unlocking Thermal Aerial Imaging: Synthetic Enhancement of UAV Datasets" Preprint: https://arxiv.org/html/2507.06797v1   Nikica Perić, Luka Ćuk, Goran Vasiljević and Stjepan Bogdan "Collection and Analysis of Soil Samples using a Mobile Robot"

On June 11, 2025, The Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Information Technology Osijek organized and held a conference on demistifying Horizon Europe programme, aimed towards providing practical guidelines for future applicants. The conference gathered experts in preparing proposals, managing projects, ministries and government agencies tasked with providing national support and contact points for the programme, but also coordinators of ongoing projects as examples of best practices. As an example of good practices, our project AeroSTREAM was selected and professor Bogdan was invited to share his experience as a project coordinator. In his lecture, professor Bogdan placed emphasis on how to become a coordinator, discussing the guidelines for consortium building, task allocation and managing the consortium to enable each partner to maximise its contribution to the project.

The research paper titled "Remote Grasping with a Tethered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle" , authored by Jakob Domislovic, Antun Ivanovic, Frano Petric, and Matko Orsag, has been accepted for presentation at the 2025 International Conference on Ubiquitous Robots . The paper presents innovative advancements in aerial manipulation using tethered UAV systems, with a specific focus on improving remote grasping capabilities in complex and constrained environments. This achievement highlights the team's continued contributions to the field of robotics and intelligent systems. For more information about the conference, visit the official website: https://2025.ubiquitousrobots.org Citation: Domislovic, J., Ivanovic, A., Petric, F., & Orsag, M. (2025). Remote grasping with a tethered unmanned aerial vehicle . Accepted for publication at the 2025 International Conference on Ubiquitous Robots.

Congratulations to Antonella Barišić Kulaš on winning the prestigious #LOréalUNESCO "For Women in Science" award. Among 68 candidates, Antonella was recognized for her contribution in the field of natural and interdisciplinary sciences, making her an inspiration to young women in STEM. This award not only acknowledges her work so far but also encourages the continued development of her scientific career. As a representative of FER and LARICS , Antonella contributes to technological advancement through her research and dedication, while also challenging stereotypes about the role of women in technical sciences.