Interview with 15-Year-Old WRO Winners: Using 3D Printing Drones to Open a “Life Channel” for Emergency Aid

At the 2025 World Robot Olympiad (WRO) Future Innovators competition, the Zurich Robonaut team won top honors in Switzerland with a self-designed vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drone for ultra-fast Automated External Defibrillator (AED) delivery. The team will represent Switzerland at the WRO global finals in November.

We interviewed the two 15-year-old project leads to hear about their inspiration and how they brought their ideas to life.

eSUN : Congratulations on your great results at WRO Future Innovators 2025! As drones are becoming increasingly important in daily life and industry, what inspired you to start this project?

The idea came from noticing that emergency medical services often take more than ten minutes to respond. We wanted to create a way to deliver life-saving aid faster than traditional methods.

We learned that sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. In Switzerland, there are about 8,000 out-of-hospital SCAs each year. Without timely defibrillation, survival drops by 7–10% per minute. With average response times in cities exceeding 10 minutes, survival rates often fall below 10%. Our drone aims to deliver treatment much faster, potentially saving many more lives.

eSUN : How does your drone system work, and how might it change emergency response?

In an emergency, Robonaut takes off automatically from its base, navigates autonomously to the scene, and performs centimeter-level precise landing to deliver the AED before returning. Our calculations show that in Zurich, the drone can deliver an AED within four minutes—about six minutes faster than traditional response. That time difference could raise survival rates from around 10% to nearly 60%.

eSUN : That’s an excellent idea. We know the drone body was mostly made with 3D printing. What led you to choose 3D printing, and how do you see its role in your project?

We chose 3D printing because it offers design freedom, lightweight structures, stability, and fast repairs.

During development, 3D printing gave us flexibility and freedom to rapidly iterate, innovate, and optimize designs.

eSUN : What challenges did you face while using 3D printing?

At first, we struggled with parameter tuning, dimensional accuracy, and material adaptation. To achieve lightweight and precise parts, some components went through over ten iterations. But thanks to eSUN ’s excellent materials and printability, the final results exceeded our expectations.

eSUN : What materials are you mainly using, and do they meet your needs?

For this project, we used eSUN  PLA-LW for low-stress parts, and PA-CF and PETG-CF carbon fiber materials for high-stability structures.

For prototyping and testing, eSUN ’s materials fully met our needs. In future designs, we’ll likely add more 3D printed parts using TPU flexible materials and stronger industrial composites. However, for mass production, industrial composites may still outperform 3D printing.

eSUN : 3D printing is rapidly advancing in real-world industries, and eSUN  is developing new industrial composites to meet diverse needs. How do you see the future of 3D printing in drones?

In recent years, both 3D printing materials and printers have greatly improved. We believe 3D printing will keep growing in importance, especially in research, prototyping, and small-scale production. Its ability to support modular design, rapid iteration, and lightweight structures makes it highly attractive. With ongoing advances in materials, future drones could be even more functional and reliable thanks to 3D printing.

In summary, 3D printing is a new type of productive force and universal technology that is transforming the real world while empowering young innovators to turn ideas into reality.

eSUN  continues to support 3D printing across industries, offering free material sponsorships, printing tips, and experience sharing for education, competitions, and research projects—encouraging innovation and fostering talent.

Anyone working on or planning related projects is welcome to contact us. This support program is ongoing.