Drone swarm simulation
Solution for the
Start2Def Challenge.
For the Start2Def challenge, we offer a simulator tool for assembling mission-fit drone swarms and charting efficient routes that ensure full area coverage. For both scout and patrol missions, simulation secures success.
Product video
To demonstrate the potential of our solution, we developed a Proof of Concept dashboard that offers a first look at what the final product could deliver.
The challenge
In modern drone operations, achieving efficient, reliable coverage of complex environments is a persistent challenge. Operators often struggle to balance swarm size, mission objectives, and environmental variables while ensuring drones cooperate effectively and maximize area surveillance. Field testing is costly, risky, and time-consuming, and suboptimal planning can result in wasted resources, incomplete coverage, or mission failure.
There is a clear need for a solution that allows operators to experiment with swarm configurations, simulate real-world scenarios, and optimize coordination and routing before deployment, ensuring that every drone contributes meaningfully to mission success.
Our solution
Within the simulator, swarms of different sizes can be tested so that end users can trade off swarm size against mission KPIs. Users can customize simulations with their mission goals, scouting or patrolling, along with environment maps and drone specifications. Variables such as mission duration, drone autonomy, target movement speed, weather effects, and inter-drone communication ranges can all be configured. These parameters make hardware and swarm composition decisions informed and true to life, ensuring every added drone counts.
In the sandbox simulator, drones are trained to sweep the map cooperatively. Each drone is controlled individually but shares intel with others, making the swarm more powerful as it grows. Advanced control and coordination schemes can be optimized through trial and error before any field deployment. This cooperation allows swarms to scan their surroundings as quickly and thoroughly as possible, letting the true power of swarm intelligence shine.
Finally, optimized routes and control schemes are saved to be exported for on-board drone control, enabling autonomous cooperative missions with swarm agents.
