Swarm Systems Lab
What we fly

THE FLEET.

The machines the lab works with, and what each one is for. Nothing here runs on motion capture: indoors the robots localize off each other with aerosense - anchors added only when a room-fixed frame is wanted - and run perception onboard. Outdoors the same stack gains GPS where there is any, and camera SLAM.

Fixed-wing

  • Sonic - Delta Wing
    Workhorse swarm platform

    Sonic - Delta Wing ×5

    The platform most of our flying happens on. Five of them fly together to test coordination algorithms and our relative-state awareness technology.

    Wingspan
    0.9 m
    Endurance
    25 min*
    Payload
    100g
    Autopilot
    Paparazzi
  • Mentor
    Perception testbed

    Mentor ×1

    Carries a Jetson Orin Nano, so perception runs in real time on board while our guidance algorithms fly the aircraft.

    Wingspan
    1.6 m
    Endurance
    15 min*
    Payload
    700g
    Computer
    Jetson Orin Nano
    Autopilot
    Paparazzi
  • Victor
    Trainer and control testbed

    Victor ×3

    The aircraft we try things on first. Every experimental low-level controller - INDI, the aerobatic work - flies here before it flies anywhere else, because Victor is stable enough to be taken back by hand when it stalls or an auto mode gets away from us. It is also what new students learn to fly on.

    Wingspan
    1.5 m
    Endurance
    25 min*
    Autopilot
    Paparazzi
  • Orca
    Aerobatics testbed

    Orca ×2

    Our first attempt at a printed aircraft, and by some way the fastest thing we fly: over 120 km/h on the right battery, and agile enough for aerobatics. Not a platform for real missions yet - it is where we push our fixed-wing aerobatic algorithms until they break.

    Wingspan
    0.8 m
    Endurance
    15 min*
    Payload
    50g
    Top speed
    > 120 km/h
    Material
    PLA / PETG
    Print time
    12 h, one printer
    Autopilot
    Paparazzi
    Design
  • pico Talon
    Mission platform

    pico Talon ×1

    The most serious aircraft we fly. It is sized around its payload: an edge-compute node for perception, aerosense for relative-state awareness, and the autopilot running our guidance algorithms. We are working towards a full mission demonstration with more than five of them.

    Wingspan
    0.9 m
    Endurance
    20 min*
    Payload
    500g
    Computer
    Jetson Orin Nano
    Material
    ASA AERO
    Print time
    48h, one printer
    Autopilot
    Paparazzi
    Design
  • Gabe V0 - Delta Wing
    In-house delta wing

    Gabe V0 - Delta Wing ×1

    The first aircraft that is entirely our own design, printed end to end. It mimics the Sonic delta wings so that a stable fleet can be scaled quickly, and it is meant to be the generation that replaces them.

    Wingspan
    0.9 m
    Endurance
    25 min*
    Material
    ASA AERO
    Print time
    20h, one printer
    Autopilot
    Paparazzi
  • Talon
    Payload carrier

    Talon ×1

    Our first go at a printed carrier. It lifts a great deal, and with the right battery and a launcher it should stay up for a very long time. ~80 hours on the printer - but the material costs under 15 euros.

    Wingspan
    1.3 m
    Endurance
    15 min*
    Payload
    1000g
    Computer
    Jetson Orin Nano
    Material
    LW-PLA
    Print time
    80h, one printer
    Autopilot
    Paparazzi
    Design

Rotorcraft

  • Crazyfly
    Indoor swarm testbed

    Crazyfly ×10

    Ten of them, flown indoors to test our coordination algorithms with a lot of units at once. Next they fly alongside the Zumo rovers, to prototype air-ground missions in the lab.

    Autopilot
    Paparazzi
  • Feldespat
    High-acceleration testbed

    Feldespat ×1

    Our racing prototype, and the first rotorcraft we built ourselves. It is where we put guiding vector field path following through accelerations nothing else in the fleet can reach.

    Autopilot
    Paparazzi

Rovers

  • Off-road Rover
    Outdoor ground testbed

    Off-road Rover ×3

    Rugged RC rovers, used to test 2D guidance algorithms in difficult terrain before they are trusted to anything that flies.

    Autopilot
    Paparazzi
  • Zumo
    Indoor ground testbed

    Zumo ×8

    The ground half of the indoor fleet: eight small rovers carrying a 2D lidar, running the same coordination and formation work as the Crazyflies. Driven and flown together, the two make for the experiments we care most about.

    Firmware
    Custom, on ChibiOS

* Endurance is measured using LiPo batteries. Different battery chemistries (e.g., Li-ion) may considerably improve these values when endurance is primarily limited by energy capacity rather than peak power/current capability.