Agile Swarms of Aerial Robots with Reliable Multimodal Sensing and State-estimation Capabilities
Standard grant project in years 2023-2025 supported by the Czech Science Foundation (GAČR) under research project No. 23-07517S
Applicant: Martin Saska
Main Goal:
To design a methodology for agile swarms of micro aerial vehicles in real-world environments with high obstacle density. To design and exploit multimodal sensing capabilities for safe and efficient cooperative movement using redundant onboard sensors and sharing perception in the swarm.
Abstract:
This project addresses the agility of swarms of fully autonomous micro-scale aerial robots deployed in demanding real-world workspaces with a high density of obstacles. Bio-inspired multimodal sensing capabilities onboard unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will be integrated with nonlinear control methodology to achieve robust, fully-decentralized swarming behavior. Swarm intelligence will be used as a tool for applying group perception to increase the robustness of UAV ego-motion and state estimation independent of the properties of the workspace. Minimalist data sharing by implicit bio-inspired communication among swarm members will be used for improving the agility of groups of UAVs cooperating in a compact arrangement. Theoretical analyses of the stability of the nonlinear control approach using limited computational and communication capabilities onboard UAV teams will be conducted, followed by numerical statistical analyses and experimental verification in GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) denied indoor and outdoor real-world conditions.
Gallery:
In Media:
Publications:
Matouš Vrba, Viktor Walter, Václav Pritzl, Michal Pliska, Tomáš Báča, Vojtěch Spurný, Daniel Heřt and Martin Saska. On Onboard LiDAR-Based Flying Object Detection. Transactions on Robotics 41:593–611, 2025. PDF, DOI BibTeX
@article{vrba2025OnboardLiDARBasedFlying, title = "On Onboard LiDAR-Based Flying Object Detection", author = "Vrba, Matouš and Walter, Viktor and Pritzl, Václav and Pliska, Michal and Báča, Tomáš and Spurný, Vojtěch and Heřt, Daniel and Saska, Martin", year = 2025, journal = "Transactions on Robotics", volume = 41, pages = "593--611", issn = "1941-0468", doi = "10.1109/TRO.2024.3502494", pdf = "data/papers/2025_T-RO_On_Onboard_LiDAR-based_Flying_Object_Detection.pdf" }Hossein B Jond. Differential Game Strategies for Social Networks With Self-Interested Individuals. IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems 11(3):4426-4439, 2024. DOI BibTeX
@article{10410428, author = "Jond, Hossein B.", doi = "10.1109/TCSS.2024.3350736", journal = "IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems", number = 3, pages = "4426-4439", title = "Differential Game Strategies for Social Networks With Self-Interested Individuals", volume = 11, year = 2024 }Hossein B Jond and Aykut Yıldız. A game approach to multi-dimensional opinion dynamics in social networks with stubborn strategist agents. European Journal of Control, page 100941, 2024. URL, DOI BibTeX
@article{JOND2024100941, author = "Hossein B. Jond and Aykut Yıldız", doi = "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejcon.2023.100941", issn = "0947-3580", journal = "European Journal of Control", keywords = "Game theory, Multi-dimensional opinion dynamics, Nash/worst-case equilibrium, Social networks", pages = 100941, title = "A game approach to multi-dimensional opinion dynamics in social networks with stubborn strategist agents", url = "https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0947358023001693", year = 2024 }Hossein B Jond. Distributed Differential Graphical Game for Control of Double-Integrator Multi-Agent Systems with Input Delay. IEEE Transactions on Control of Network Systems 11(4):1949-1961, 2024. DOI BibTeX
@article{10453977, author = "Jond, Hossein B.", doi = "10.1109/TCNS.2024.3371594", journal = "IEEE Transactions on Control of Network Systems", keywords = "Delays;Nash equilibrium;Games;Differential games;Multi-agent systems;Vectors;Laplace equations;Consensus;differential graphical game (DGG);distributed information;input delay;multi-agent system (MAS);Nash equilibrium", number = 4, pages = "1949-1961", title = "Distributed Differential Graphical Game for Control of Double-Integrator Multi-Agent Systems with Input Delay", volume = 11, year = 2024 }Vít Krátký, Giuseppe Silano, Matouš Vrba, Christos Papaioannidis, Ioannis Mademlis, Robert Pěnička, Ioannis Pitas and Martin Saska. Gesture-Controlled Aerial Robot Formation for Human-Swarm Interaction in Safety Monitoring Applications. 2024. URL PDF BibTeX
@misc{kratky2024gesture, archiveprefix = "arXiv", author = "Vít Krátký and Giuseppe Silano and Matouš Vrba and Christos Papaioannidis and Ioannis Mademlis and Robert Pěnička and Ioannis Pitas and Martin Saska", eprint = "2403.15333", pdf = "data/papers/240315333.pdf", primaryclass = "cs.RO", title = "Gesture-Controlled Aerial Robot Formation for Human-Swarm Interaction in Safety Monitoring Applications", url = "https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.15333", year = 2024 }Giuseppe Silano, Alvaro Caballero, Davide Liuzza, Luigi Iannelli, Stjepan Bogdan and Martin Saska. Task Coordination and Trajectory Optimization for Multi-Aerial Systems via Signal Temporal Logic: A Wind Turbine Inspection Study. In 2024 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Contribution accepted for discussion at the workshop session: "2nd Formal methods techniques in robotics systems: Design and control", Abu Dhabi, UAE. October 2024, 1-2. URL PDF, DOI BibTeX
@inproceedings{Silano2024IROS_WS_CONTRIBUTION_FORMAL_METHODS, author = "{Silano}, Giuseppe and {Caballero}, Alvaro and {Liuzza}, Davide and {Iannelli}, Luigi and {Bogdan}, Stjepan and {Saska}, Martin", booktitle = {2024 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Contribution accepted for discussion at the workshop session: "2nd Formal methods techniques in robotics systems: Design and control", Abu Dhabi, UAE}, doi = "10.48550/arXiv.2410.06620", month = "October", note = {Contribution accepted for discussion at the workshop session: "2nd Formal methods techniques in robotics systems: Design and control", Abu Dhabi, UAE}, pages = "1-2", pdf = "data/papers/IROS24_FM_WS.pdf", title = "{Task Coordination and Trajectory Optimization for Multi-Aerial Systems via Signal Temporal Logic: A Wind Turbine Inspection Study}", url = "http://arxiv.org/abs/2410.06620", year = 2024 }Daniel Bonilla Licea, Hajar El Hammouti, Giuseppe Silano and Martin Saska. Harnessing the Potential of Omnidirectional Multi-Rotor Aerial Vehicles in Cooperative Jamming Against Eavesdropping. In 2024 IEEE Global Communications Conference (IEEE GLOBECOM). December 2024, . PDF, DOI BibTeX
@inproceedings{Licea2024GLOBECOM, author = "{Bonilla Licea}, Daniel and {El Hammouti}, Hajar and {Silano}, Giuseppe and {Saska}, Martin", booktitle = "2024 IEEE Global Communications Conference (IEEE GLOBECOM)", doi = "", month = "December", organization = "IEEE", pages = "", pdf = "data/papers/GLOBECOM_2024.pdf", title = "{Harnessing the Potential of Omnidirectional Multi-Rotor Aerial Vehicles in Cooperative Jamming Against Eavesdropping}", url = "", year = 2024 }Václav Pritzl, Matouš Vrba, Yurii Stasinchuk, Vít Krátký, Jiří Horyna, Petr Štěpán and Martin Saska. Drones Guiding Drones: Cooperative Navigation of a Less-Equipped Micro Aerial Vehicle in Cluttered Environments. In IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS). 2024. PDF BibTeX
@inproceedings{pritzlDronesGuidingDrones2024, author = "Václav Pritzl and Matouš Vrba and Yurii Stasinchuk and Vít Krátký and Jiří Horyna and Petr Štěpán and Martin Saska", booktitle = "IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)", pdf = "data/papers/iros2024pritzl.pdf", title = "Drones Guiding Drones: Cooperative Navigation of a Less-Equipped Micro Aerial Vehicle in Cluttered Environments", year = 2024 }Martin Křížek, Matouš Vrba, Antonella Barišić Kulaš, Stjepan Bogdan and Martin Saska. Bio-inspired visual relative localization for large swarms of UAVs. In International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA). May 2024, 11825-11831. PDF, DOI BibTeX
@inproceedings{krizek2024icra, author = "Martin Křížek and Matouš Vrba and Antonella Barišić Kulaš and Stjepan Bogdan and Martin Saska", booktitle = "International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)", doi = "10.1109/ICRA57147.2024.10610100", month = "May", organization = "IEEE", pages = "11825-11831", pdf = "data/papers/bio-inspired-icra2024.pdf", title = "Bio-inspired visual relative localization for large swarms of {UAVs}", year = 2024 }Afzal Ahmad, Daniel Bonilla Licea, Giuseppe Silano, Tomas Baca and Martin Saska. PACNav: Enhancing Collective Navigation for UAV Swarms in Communication-Challenged Environments . In 2024 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Contribution accepted for discussion at the workshop session: "Breaking Swarm Stereotypes", Yokohama, Japan. May 2024, 1-2. URL PDF, DOI BibTeX
@inproceedings{Afzal2024ICRA_WS_CONTRIBUTION_SWARM, author = "Afzal {Ahmad} and Daniel {Bonilla Licea} and Giuseppe {Silano} and Tomas {Baca} and Martin {Saska}", booktitle = {2024 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Contribution accepted for discussion at the workshop session: "Breaking Swarm Stereotypes", Yokohama, Japan}, doi = "10.48550/arXiv.2404.13440", month = "May", note = {Contribution accepted for discussion at the workshop session: "Breaking Swarm Stereotypes", Yokohama, Japan}, pages = "1-2", pdf = "data/papers/ICRA_2024_WORKSHOP_PACNav.pdf", title = "{PACNav: Enhancing Collective Navigation for UAV Swarms in Communication-Challenged Environments }", url = "https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2404.13440", year = 2024 }Michaela Cihlářová, Václav Pritzl and Martin Saska. Cooperative Indoor Exploration Leveraging a Mixed-Size UAV Team with Heterogeneous Sensors. In IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE). 2024. PDF BibTeX
@inproceedings{cihlarovaCooperativeIndoor2024, author = "Michaela Cihlářová and Václav Pritzl and Martin Saska", booktitle = "IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE)", pdf = "data/papers/case2024cihlarova.pdf", title = "Cooperative Indoor Exploration Leveraging a Mixed-Size UAV Team with Heterogeneous Sensors", year = 2024 }Michal Werner, Tomáš Báča, Petr Štibinger, Daniela Doubravová, Jaroslav Šolc, Jan Rusňák and Martin Saska. Autonomous localization of multiple ionizing radiation sources using miniature single-layer Compton cameras onboard a group of micro aerial vehicles. In IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS). 2024. PDF BibTeX
@inproceedings{wernerComptonRadiation2024, author = "Werner, Michal and B\'{a}\v{c}a, Tom\'{a}\v{s} and \v{S}tibinger, Petr and Doubravov\'{a}, Daniela and \v{S}olc, Jaroslav and Rus\v{n}\'{a}k, Jan and Saska, Martin", booktitle = "IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)", pdf = "data/papers/iros2024werner.pdf", title = "Autonomous localization of multiple ionizing radiation sources using miniature single-layer Compton cameras onboard a group of micro aerial vehicles", year = 2024 }Filip Novák, Tomáš Báča and Martin Saska. Collaborative Object Manipulation on the Water Surface by a UAV-USV Team Using Tethers. In IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS). 2024. PDF BibTeX
@inproceedings{novakObjectManipulation2024, author = "Filip Nov{\'{a}}k and Tom{\'{a}}{\v{s}} B{\'{a}}{\v{c}}a and Martin Saska", booktitle = "IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)", pdf = "data/papers/iros2024novak.pdf", title = "Collaborative Object Manipulation on the Water Surface by a UAV-USV Team Using Tethers", year = 2024 }Daniel Bonilla Licea, Giuseppe Silano, Hajar El Hammouti, Mounir Ghogho and Martin Saska. Reshaping UAV-Enabled Communications with Omnidirectional Multi-Rotor Aerial Vehicles. IEEE Communications Magazine ():, 2024. PDF, DOI BibTeX
@article{Bonilla2024IEEECommMagazine, author = "{Bonilla Licea}, Daniel and {Silano}, Giuseppe and {El Hammouti}, Hajar and {Ghogho}, Mounir and {Saska}, Martin", doi = "10.1109/MCOM.001.2400421", journal = "IEEE Communications Magazine", number = "", pages = "", pdf = "data/papers/IEEEComMag_2024.pdf", title = "{Reshaping UAV-Enabled Communications with Omnidirectional Multi-Rotor Aerial Vehicles}", url = "", volume = "", year = 2024 }Filip Novák, Tomáš Báča, Ondřej Procházka and Martin Saska. Towards UAV-USV Collaboration in Harsh Maritime Conditions Including Large Waves. In Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics - Volume 1: ICINCO. 2024, 545-554. PDF, DOI BibTeX
@inproceedings{novakTowardsUavUsvCollaboration2024, author = "Filip Nov{\'{a}}k and Tom{\'{a}}{\v{s}} B{\'{a}}{\v{c}}a and Ond{\v{r}}ej Proch{\'{a}}zka and Martin Saska", booktitle = "Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics - Volume 1: ICINCO", doi = "10.5220/0012910000003822", isbn = "978-989-758-717-7", issn = "2184-2809", organization = "INSTICC", pages = "545-554", pdf = "data/papers/icinco2024novak.pdf", publisher = "SciTePress", title = "Towards UAV-USV Collaboration in Harsh Maritime Conditions Including Large Waves", year = 2024 }Akash Chaudhary, Tiago Nascimento and Martin Saska. Intuitive Human-Robot Interface: A 3-Dimensional Action Recognition and UAV Collaboration Framework. In Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics - Volume 2: ICINCO. 2024, 26-35. DOI BibTeX
@conference{icinco24, author = "Akash Chaudhary and Tiago Nascimento and Martin Saska", title = "Intuitive Human-Robot Interface: A 3-Dimensional Action Recognition and UAV Collaboration Framework", booktitle = "Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics - Volume 2: ICINCO", year = 2024, pages = "26-35", publisher = "SciTePress", organization = "INSTICC", doi = "10.5220/0012921300003822", isbn = "978-989-758-717-7", issn = "2184-2809" }Michal Pliska, Matouš Vrba, Tomáš Báča and Martin Saska. Towards Safe Mid-Air Drone Interception: Strategies for Tracking & Capture. Robotics and Automation Letters 9(10):8810-8817, 2024. PDF, DOI BibTeX
@article{pliska2024ral, author = "Pliska, Michal and Vrba, Matouš and Báča, Tomáš and Saska, Martin", doi = "10.1109/LRA.2024.3451768", journal = "Robotics and Automation Letters", keywords = "Trajectory;Target tracking;Autonomous aerial vehicles;Navigation;State estimation;Accuracy;Three-dimensional displays;Aerial systems: Perception and autonomy;field robots;reactive and sensor-based planning", number = 10, pages = "8810-8817", pdf = "data/papers/pliska2024ral.pdf", title = "Towards Safe Mid-Air Drone Interception: Strategies for Tracking & Capture", volume = 9, year = 2024 }Davi Santos, Martin Saska and Tiago Nascimento. A Generalized Thrust Estimation and Control Approach for Multirotors Micro Aerial Vehicles. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters 9(10):8889-8896, 2024. PDF, DOI BibTeX
@article{Davi_2024, author = "Santos, Davi and Saska, Martin and Nascimento, Tiago", doi = "10.1109/LRA.2024.3433749", journal = "IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters", number = 10, pages = "8889-8896", pdf = "data/papers/Davi_2024.pdf", title = "A Generalized Thrust Estimation and Control Approach for Multirotors Micro Aerial Vehicles", volume = 9, year = 2024 }Lucas Nogueira Nobrega, Ewerton Oliveira, Martin Saska and Tiago Nascimento. Proximal Control of UAVs With Federated Learning for Human-Robot Collaborative Domains. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters 9(12):11305-11312, 2024. PDF, DOI BibTeX
@article{Lucas_2024, author = "Nobrega, Lucas Nogueira and de Oliveira, Ewerton and Saska, Martin and Nascimento, Tiago", doi = "10.1109/LRA.2024.3491417", journal = "IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters", number = 12, pages = "11305-11312", pdf = "data/papers/Lucas_2024.pdf", title = "Proximal Control of UAVs With Federated Learning for Human-Robot Collaborative Domains", volume = 9, year = 2024 }
