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Naval Postgraduate School Takes a Lead in Swarm Drones

In the military, drones often fly on solo missions, but now researchers, including some in the Monterey Bay Area, are working on ways to have several drones work together as a group or swarm.

In an experiment at Camp Roberts in southern Monterey County, researchers from the Naval Postgraduate School have loaded a V-shaped drone,  they call a flying wing, onto what looks like a giant sling shot.

The drone soars up into the air, and it settles into a racetrack pattern.  It’s up so high it’s hard to see, but the sound from its propeller is inescapable, like a buzzing bee.  With each launch the buzz grows louder.

One after another, the drones settle into that racetrack pattern.    The team from NPS's Advanced Robotic Systems Engineering Laboratory (ARSENL) is aiming to get 24 drones into the swarm.

“In our context swarming means, a large collection of aerial robots working together to do something meaningful or interesting,” says  Dr. Timothy Chung who is heading up this project.  “The one behavior that we’re testing out today is a leader follower behavior where the aircraft talks amongst themselves.”

The drones talk amongst themselves over Wi-Fi.  Once up in the air they’re programmed to determine the leader based on which is flying highest, and the other drones follow 50 meters behind. 

“And so those types of algorithms make it a lot smarter, more intelligent than what we typically think of as just drones,” says Chung.  It’s why he prefers to call them unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Although a pilot is on standby to take over if needed, these UAVs are autonomous. The last moment of direct human contact is the launch. 

The point of today’s experiment is to get as many UAVs swarming as possible and do it cheaply.  Each costs about $1000. The idea is to go for the expendable rather than the exquisite.

“There are some tasks where you are going to want something small cheap and maybe even disposable,” says  P.W. Singer, a  strategist at Washington D.C. think tank New America.

For example, out at sea where he says a swarm could spread out and be in more places at once perhaps searching for an enemy fleet.

“Or maybe it’s not just about finding the enemy, but doing something about it. With swarming you can surround an enemy target and overwhelm its defenses. So that even if they were able to shoot down 90%, that last 10% can still cause damage or even sink you,” says Singer.

Singer recently co-authored the book Ghost Fleet which fictionalizes the use of swarm drones in the next world war, but he says reality isn’t far behind.

“We obviously haven't used it yet because we are not in a war at sea with anyone. If we were to enter a great power conflict with somewhere like China we would see these be used, and not just by the United States,” says Singer.

There could be civilian uses too. Swarms could monitor large agricultural fields or help add eyes in the sky to a search and rescue operation.   But the technology still faces challenges some political, like air traffic rules.  Some challenges are technical, like having enough power to stay in the air for long periods of time.

Timothy Chung is one of several researchers across the country working on swarm technology.  The Office of Naval Research has a project called LOCUST, and the Marines also have an effort underway.

As for Chung, he believes his team holds the record for the largest swarm.  After getting 20 in the air back in May, they tried again just last week and got 30.  

“Our intent is to keep pushing.  To be able to have these technologies mature enough to be able to deploy up to 50 in the near future,” says Chung.

Krista joined KAZU in 2007. She is an award winning journalist with more than a decade of broadcast experience. Her stories have won regional Edward R. Murrow Awards and honors from the Northern California Radio and Television News Directors Association. Prior to working at KAZU, Krista reported in Sacramento for Capital Public Radio and at television stations in Iowa. Like KAZU listeners, Krista appreciates the in-depth, long form stories that are unique to public radio. She's pleased to continue that tradition in the Monterey Bay Area.