A group of students from the Naval Postgraduate School in California has developed a technology that can fly and control a swarm of drones simultaneously. A successful first-ever demonstration was recently completed in Monterey involving 50 Zephyr UAVs controlled by only one operator.
"To our knowledge, this is a world record for the number of UAVs under single operator control, by quite a long way," Kevin Jones, the project leader, told the New Scientist.
Each of the drones was launched by a mechanism called the chain-driven launcher, which fired off each drones in quick succession - every 30 seconds - since the unmanned vehicles are too large to be manually launched in the air. Once the drones were airborne, they were controlled through a Wi-Fi based communication system. The algorithm that drives it directs the drones to communicate with each other. The idea is for the drones to follow a leader in the sky, which then provides the framework for controlling the movement of the entire swarm rather than directing them individually.
The swarming drones have been recorded on video, and based on the footage, the flying machines appear to be moving randomly. This behavior is expected by the researchers since the drones are running on search-and-rescue algorithms. Each drone is trying to optimally search an area in the shortest amount of times, according to Jones.
The concept of piloting a group of drones to achieve specific objectives is not entirely new. For instance, there is the case of drones being developed by a team of Hungarian scientists that could fly in a formation and operate independently, as previously reported by HNGN. As technology propels drones towards more expansive and amazing capabilities, several issues are also coming up, such as privacy, illegal surveillance and even the use of drones as weapons that can harm civilians, RI Future reported.
