Topics of student projects / Témata studentských prací |
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[EN]: Below, you will find a list of all currently available topics for various university projects. For english speaking students: Some of the topics' details are written in Czech. However, do not be afraid to contact the supervisors for more information about the projects. [CZ]: Některá témata jsou psána v angličtině a jiná v češtině. Nebojte, všechna témata je možné vypsat v obou jazycích. V případě zájmu o téma kontaktujte konkrétního vedoucího. Student must subscribte to a topic via the system: https://hub.fel.cvut.cz/topics/semestral_projects/all_topics_semestral The topics managed by MRS group can be listed under department "13167". |
Agile Agile drone flight control refers to the ability of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to perform fast, precise, and adaptive maneuvers in dynamic environments. It involves advanced control algorithms that enable rapid response to external disturbances, such as wind or moving obstacles, while maintaining stability and accuracy. This field combines elements of control theory, robotics, and real-time computing to achieve high-performance autonomous flight.
High level planning and motion planning Robotic motion planning is the process of determining a sequence of movements that a robot must take to reach a goal without colliding with obstacles. It involves algorithms that compute feasible and efficient paths in the robot’s environment, considering its physical constraints. High-level motion planning extends this concept by incorporating task-level objectives, such as deciding which actions to perform and in what order to achieve a broader goal. It often involves reasoning about goals, environment changes, and multiple possible strategies. Together, these approaches enable robots to operate autonomously in complex, real-world scenarios.
Localization Robot localization is the process of determining a robot’s position and orientation within a known environment, which is essential for autonomous navigation and task execution. It typically uses sensor data such as GPS, cameras, lidar, or inertial measurements to estimate the robot’s location relative to a map or coordinate system. For drones (UAS), localization presents additional challenges due to their operation in 3D space and the need for precise positioning during fast, agile flight. GPS signals can be unreliable or unavailable in indoor or urban environments, making alternative methods like visual odometry, SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping), or sensor fusion critical. Drones also face issues with sensor drift, latency, and limited onboard computational resources. Maintaining accurate localization in real-time, especially during high-speed maneuvers or in dynamic environments, remains a complex and active area of research.
Drone Swarming Drone swarming refers to the coordinated control of multiple drones working together to achieve a shared objective, often inspired by the collective behavior of animals like birds or insects. In a swarm, each drone operates autonomously while communicating with others to maintain formation, avoid collisions, and adapt to changes in the environment. Swarming enables scalable and robust operations, such as area surveillance, search and rescue, or environmental monitoring. The underlying algorithms often involve decentralized decision-making, local sensing, and simple interaction rules that lead to complex, intelligent group behavior. This approach enhances efficiency, fault tolerance, and the ability to cover large or dynamic areas.
Applications Drones are widely used in agriculture for crop monitoring, spraying, and assessing field health using aerial imagery. In disaster response, they assist in search and rescue missions by quickly reaching areas that are unsafe or inaccessible to humans. Additionally, drones are employed in infrastructure inspection, such as monitoring bridges, power lines, and pipelines, to detect damage without risking human safety. This topic gathers tasks related to our industrial applications of flying robots.
Agile
Plánování letu bezpilotní helikoptéry pomocí posilovaného učeníCílem projektu je návrh metod posilovaného učení pro plánování pohybu bezpilotního vzdušného prostředku. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Trajectory generation for agile flight in cluttered environment with the MRS systemThe task In this project is to integrate the trajectory planning method [3] of agile quadrotor flight into Robot Operating System (ROS) so that this planner can be used during flight using the MRS system [2]. Furthermore, the planner will be extended by the possibility of using a grid map which can be created during the flight from on-board sensors. The planner will be tested on a realistic scenario of agile simulated quadrotor flight combined with appropriate predictive control method. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
Kinematic Traveling Salesman Problem (KTSP) with minimum time objective for unmanned aerial vehicleThe goal of this project is to design and implement an algorithm for solving the Kinematic Traveling Salesman Problem (KTSP) for multirotor UAVs similar to the Orienteering Problem in [1] . The solution will involve optimizing the sequence of waypoint fly-throughs to minimize time while taking into account the UAV’s simplified point-mass model [2]. The combinatorial part of the TSP will be solved with a heuristic such as Variable Neighborhood Search (VNS) method [3] or similar to the one in [1]. The results will be validated on existing TSP datasets and with UAV flight in simulations. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Energy-Efficient Model Predictive Contouring Control for UAVsThe goal of this project is to develop and analyze a Model Predictive Contouring Control (MPCC) strategy for UAVs that prioritize energy efficiency. While traditional MPCC methods focus on minimizing contouring and lag errors along a reference path while maximizing speed, they do not explicitly consider energy consumption. In real-world applications, optimizing energy use is critical for extending flight time and improving UAV performance. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
Autonomous flight of multiple drones using Imitation LearningThis project will aim to design a simulation pipeline for learning to fly multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) using imitation learning. The student will first study existing approaches to imitation learning and then select a suitable multi-UAV planning algorithm to imitate. Finally, the learned policy shall be shown to fly at least two UAVs inside a simulated environment. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Minimum-time trajectory planning for autonomous dronesThe goal of this project is to design a trajectory planning algorithm that minimizes the flight time of a drone and is able to replan the trajectory during flight. The task is to implement one of the trajectory planning methods presented in [2,3] and compare its results with the existing method [1]. Furthermore, the student will propose a way to extend the implemented method to include planning that takes into account an environment with obstacles. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
Learning-based multi-goal path planningThe goal of this project is to design a learning-based method for planning paths over multiple targets solving, at least partially, the orienteering problem [1]. The project will focus on designing either an algorithm with or without a teacher, so that the learned neural network can create an effective plan for visiting specified goals [1], or is able to make the heuristic search for solutions more efficient [4]. As part of the project, the student will: 1) study existing methods for path planning over multiple targets that use machine learning, 2) propose a suitable learning-based method that will make the search for a solution to the kinematic variant of the orientation problem more effective [2], 3) compares the proposed method with existing approaches. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Nonlinear model predictive control for drone flight in cluttered environmentThe aim of the project is to design model predictive control methods for drones in environments with obstacles. Classical control methods usually do not consider obstacles, and therefore, when following a collision-free reference trajectory, they may encounter obstacles in an effort to minimize steering deviation. This project will investigate predictive control methods that consider obstacles during flight. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
Using learning-based methods for heuristics in routing problemsThe goal of this project is to design a learning-based method to be used as a heuristic [1] in finding solutions to routing problems [2]. The project will focus on the design of algorithms with the teacher so that the learned neural network can estimate the cost of the trip and the states of the robot in the visited cities for a variant of routing problems with a kinematic robot. The proposed algorithm will be compared on existing datasets against the used teacher [3]. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Detection and localization of powerline insulators using lidar and camera data synthesis onboard unmanned aerial vehicleDuring the project, the student will design a method for synthesizing lidar and camera data [1,2] to detect and locate insulators on a high voltage transmission line pole for visual inspection of the insulators [3]. The output data from the camera and lidar mounted on the drone are used to detect the insulators. Based on the localization, the algorithm is able to determine a suitable position to obtain an inspection image of the detected object. The design of the algorithm should be fast enough for later integration in a simulated or real environment using only the available computational capacity on the UAV. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
Gate Detection in drone racing using convolutional neural networksThe goal of this project is to design and implement an algorithm for gate detection using convolutional neural networks (CNN) to navigate autonomous drones. The system will be capable of detecting gate corners and estimating their position based on known geometrical properties of the gates and their location. Part of the work is also the creation of sufficient data sets for learning detections. The resulting algorithm should be robust enough to handle partial visibility of gates or overlapping gates. Functionality will be tested in a simulated environment and subsequently in a real-world setting. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Reinforcement learning for trajectory planning of drones in a cluttered environmentThe project aims to design reinforcement learning methods for unmanned aerial vehicle trajectory planning. Classical drone planning and control methods fail to exploit the full potential of drones in high-speed flight through cluttered environments. The project will focus on the use of machine learning methods, such as reinforcement learning, to improve drone planning and control in unknown environments. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
Nonlinear Model Predictive Control for multi-robot aerial vehicles with Boids flocking modelThe student will design a nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) such that a multi-robot system composed of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) can fly in a swarm using the Boids model [1], which will be integrated within the NMPC. Robots should not collide during flight, but at the same time, robots should not be too far apart and should be able to fly in a swarm towards a common goal. The control functionality will be verified in the simulation. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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High level planning and motion planning
Disassembly path planningThe task of disassembly planning is to disassemble an object consisting of several parts. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Space-filling trees in sampling-based motion planningMotion planning of robots/other objects leads to a search in high-dimensional configuration spaces. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
Localization
Long-term self-localization of UAVs in mapped environmentsDevelop an algorithm for precise 3D self-localization of an UAV in an a priori known map of the environment. The UAV will be equipped with a GPS receiver and a 3D LiDAR sensor, so an ICP-inspired approach is a suitable solution. The map should be updated online by the algorithm to account for changes in the environment (such as a parked car, which is missing in the a priori map, or a tree, which was cut down). Evaluate the precision, robustness and general performance of your algorithm in a real-world experiment with flying UAVs. This topic is motivated by the task of periodic autonomous inspection of infrastructure by UAVs Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Gimbal detection and tracking for a small autonomous UAVUse a detection algorithm to find an object of interest in an image and control a camera gimbal to track the object. The tracking has to be robust to rapid movements of the UAV, carrying the gimbal. The gimbal also has zoom capabilities, which the control algorithm should take into account to provide an optimal view of the target. Evaluate the precision, robustness and general performance of your solution in a real-world experiment with flying UAVs. Motivation of this topic is autonomous monitoring of workers in high-risk environments for safety purposes and autonomous tracking of high-speed targets for the purpose of physical interaction or collision avoidance Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
Drone detection and relative localization from a thermal cameraDevelop a detection and relative localization algorithm for detection of drones using a thermal camera, placed onboard a flying UAV. The detection task may be tackled using a convolutional neural network. A combination of thermal and RGB cameras for the detection input is also possible. The resulting algorithm should provide good precision and low latency to be used for the task of autonomous drone interception (see http://mrs.felk.cvut.cz/projects/eagle-one). Evaluate precision, detection range and general performance of the algorithm in a real-world experiment with several flying UAVs. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Coordination of a Heterogeneous Team of Human-Aerial Co-Worker (ACW)The main objective of this task will be to simultaneously provide continuous assistance and monitoring of a person working in a hazardous environment by a group of cooperating aerial co-workers. A crucial information required for safe and efficient group coordination is a reliable knowledge of the states of ACWs and also of the relative positions with respect to the human workers. To provide a knowledge of the full state of the group, a distributed fusion mechanism will be designed using outputs of an onboard relative visual localization system between the ACWs and relative to the humans. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
Drone detection using convolutional neural networksUse a convolutional neural network for detection of drones using an RGB camera, placed onboard a flying UAV. It is possible to utilize automatic dataset annotation using the UVDAR system for training of the CNN (seehttp://mrs.felk.cvut.cz/projects/midgard). Implement the whole solution to run online, onboard the UAV. The resulting algorithm should provide good precision and low latency to be used for the task of autonomous drone interception (see http://mrs.felk.cvut.cz/projects/eagle-one). Evaluate precision, detection range and general performance of the algorithm in a real-world experiment with several flying UAVs. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Drone detection using neural networks and LiDARUse a neural network for detection of drones using a 3D LiDAR sensor, placed onboard a flying UAV. It is possible to utilize automatic dataset annotation using the UVDAR system for training of the neural network (seehttp://mrs.felk.cvut.cz/projects/midgard). Implement the whole solution to run online, onboard the UAV. The resulting algorithm should provide good precision and low latency to be used for the task of autonomous drone interception (see http://mrs.felk.cvut.cz/projects/eagle-one). Evaluate precision, detection range and general performance of the algorithm in a real-world experiment with several flying UAVs. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
Intelligent automatic camera exposure control for robot sensingA correct setting of exposure duration and gain of a camera strongly influences the quality of information in the resulting captured image. Even though, this problem is often delegated to naïve or proprietary algorithms integrated in the respective camera, that are not sufficiently robust for general robot perception. Research and compare state-of-the-art intelligent methods of automatic exposure and gain control for cameras. Select and implement a suitable solution for deployment onboard unmanned aerial vehicles. Experimentally validate the implemented solution. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Multi-target tracking for unmanned aerial vehiclesResearch and compare algorithms for multi-target tracking. Select a suitable algorithm for deployment on an onboard computer of an unmanned aerial vehicle in the task of autonomous tracking of an unknown number of targets. Implement and experimentally evaluate the selected algorithm. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
3D reconstruction from a monocular camera image using CNN featuresAlgorithms for 3D reconstruction of environment using a monocular camera (SLAM, SfM etc.) have many uses in mobile robotics. When deployed on UAVs, these can be used eg. for inspection, mapping or obstacle avoidance. The basis of most of these algorithms is a detector of visual features that are then used to estimate the camera's movement, position of obstacles in the environment etc. Lately, several feature extraction algorithms based on deep learning have been published that promise better robustness and accuracy than conventional approaches. Implement an algorithm for detection of visual features in a camera image using neural networks so that it can run on an onboard computer of a UAV with minimal latency. Test the feature detector and compare it with the ORB and SIFT conventional detectors for the application of 3D environment reconstruction. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Drone Swarming
Fast formation flight through cluttered environment using formation shape adaptationThe goal of this project is to design and implement algorithm for safe navigation of formation of UAVs through environment with obstacles by adapting the shape of the formation. The project consists of two tasks. First part will focus on modification of an existing algorithm [1] for formation shape adaptation for the use in curvilinear coordinate systems. Second part of the project will focus on development of algorithm for planning of a sequence of formation shapes that will lead to a safe navigation of the formation along given path in 3D environment. The developed algorithm is expected to be deployed on a fleet of UAVs in a real-world experiment. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Formation shape adaptation in environments with obstaclesThe goal of this project is to design and implement algorithm for formation shape adaptation in environments with obstacles with focus on time efficiency of the formation reshaping process. The designed algorithm is expected to be composed of solution to both the robot-to-goal assignment problem and trajectory generation problem in environments with obstacles. The developed algorithm will be tested in real-world experiments with unmanned aerial vehicles. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
Applications
Autonomní dron Ryze Tello / Autonomous dron Ryze TelloFirma DJI společně s firmou Intel vyvinula unikátní dron Ryze Tello, který je připraven pro ovládání z počítače přes wifi připojení. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Skupina autonomních dronů Ryze Tello / Group of autonomous drones Ryze TelloSeznamte se s ovládáním dronu Ryze Tello a robotickým operačním systémem ROS. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
Vytvoření modelu stožáru elektrického vedení dronem s termální kamerou / Modelling of power line pylon using drone with thermal cameraDrony jsou v poslední době hojně využívány k inspekci stožárů elektrického vedení. Cílem této práce je vytvořit model stožáru elektrického vedení z drony, která se pohybuje okolo stožáru. Prá se může zaměřit na vytváření modelu z obrazu stereo barevných kamer, z obrazu stereo termálních kamer, nebo s monokulárního systému při známé pozici drony. Téma je vhodné i pro více studentů, neboť je možné využít různé senzory pro tvorbu modelů a jejich výsledky pak vzájemně porovnat. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Navigace a lokalizace dronu s termokamerou / Drone localization and navigation with thermal cameraTermokamery poskytují nový pohled na okolí, které nás obklopuje. I pro roboty je využití termokamer výhodné, protože umožňuje detekovat objekty, které v obyčejné kameře jsou špatně viditelné. Cílem této práce je vytvořit algoritmy pro detekci objektů v termokameře, nebo v páru stereo termokamer. Pomocí detekce těchto známých předmětů (jako je stožár elektrického vedení, samotné elektrické vedení) navigovat dron při průzkumu stožáru, případně při přelétání mezi stožáry. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
Assistive technology for scanning and documentation of historical monuments by an autonomous helicopterCílem práce je návrh a vývoj asistivní technologie pro operátora bezpilotní helikoptéry řešící úlohu senzorického snímání a fotografování obtížně přístupných míst v interiérech a exteriérech rozlehlých historických budov (kostelů, hradů, zřícenin). Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Autonomous cooperative object gathering by a group of cooperating helicoptersCílem práce bude navrhnout, implementovat a experimentálně ověřit systém pro řízení formace helikoptér s vizuální zpětnou vazbou, který umožní autonomně uchopit relativně lokalizované předměty a stavit z nich zeď. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
Formations of relatively stabilized helicopters in transmission source localization tasksCílem práce je integrovat principy měření vzdálenosti vysílače a přijímače neseného helikoptérou z intenzity přijímaného signálu do systému řízení formace relativně stabilizovaných bezpilotních helikoptér vyvíjeného skupinou Multi-robotických systémů Katedry kybernetiky a využít je v úloze kooperativní lokalizace čipu. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Mechanism for objects manipulation by an unmanned helicopterCílem práce bude navrhnout a vyvinout inteligentní zařízení nesené helikoptérou a propojené se systémem jejího řízení pro úlohu autonomního uchopování a přemísťování předmětů, kterou bude skupina Multi-robotických systémů Katedry kybernetiky řešit v rámci soutěže MBZIRC http://mbzirc.com/. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
Multi-robot surveillance by a group of unmanned helicopters and cooperative autonomous aircraftsCílem práce bude vyvinout systém pro plánování pohybu a koordinaci skupiny helikoptér a bezpilotních letounů tak, aby se vhodně zkombinovaly přednosti obou platforem. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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System of autonomous localization and fire extuinguishment by a drone in tall buildingsCílem práce bude navrhnout, implementovat a experimentálně ověřit systém pro řízení dronu, který umožní autonomně lokalizovat ohniska požáru. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
Motion planning of a group of helicopters in autonomous construction taskCílem práce je vyvinout systém pro plánování a koordinaci skupiny bezpilotních helikoptér v úloze autonomního kooperativního sběru statických s cílem stavět z nich konstrukci. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Bio-inspired autonomous robotic swarmsSeznamte se s algoritmy pro řízení a navigaci autonomních formací inspirovaných pohybem hejn ptáků, ryb či hmyzu. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
Moving object tracking by a group of relatively localized unmanned helicoptersCílem práce je vyvinout systém pro automatické sledování pohybujícího se objektu skupinou helikoptér, ve kterém je informace o pozici helikoptér ve formaci a přesnost detekce objektu jednotlivými helikoptérami využita k řízení pohybu formace a zvýšení robustnosti lokalizace. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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System for intelligent photography and filming by a group of helicoptersCílem práce je integrovat principy a metody využívané profesionálními fotografy a filmaři do systému pro polo-autonomní dokumentaci obtížně přístupných míst v interiérech budov skupinou vzájemně spolupracujících helikoptér. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |