Sun Nov 02 14:14:59 UTC 2025: Okay, here’s a summary of the text, followed by a rewritten news article:
Summary:
Researchers at IIT Bombay have developed a novel drone control scheme that allows UAVs to fly in coordinated swarms using only camera data for bearing measurements. This eliminates the need for GPS, inter-drone communication, or a centralized control system. The system is designed to work with VTOL drones, making it suitable for surveillance, monitoring, and stealth operations. The control scheme addresses the challenges of underactuated systems and ensures stable formation even with imperfect initial positions. The system supports constant and time-varying formations, enabling drones to adapt to complex mission requirements. The researchers are planning experimental tests and aim to develop collision avoidance with theoretical guarantees.
News Article:
IIT Bombay Unveils Drone Swarm Technology That Needs No GPS, Communication
Mumbai, India – November 2, 2025 – Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay researchers have unveiled a groundbreaking drone control system poised to revolutionize unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operations. The novel technology allows drones to fly in complex, coordinated formations without relying on GPS, inter-drone communication, or centralized control.
Developed by Professor Dwaipayan Mukherjee and research scholar Chinmay Garanayak, the system utilizes onboard cameras to gather bearing-only measurements, enabling each drone to determine its relative position and maintain formation within the swarm. This innovative approach eliminates the vulnerabilities associated with GPS jamming and communication interference, making it ideal for stealth operations and environments where satellite signals are unavailable.
The technology is specifically designed for Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) drones, known for their maneuverability in confined spaces. Professor Mukherjee emphasized the system’s focus on autonomous decision-making, allowing individual drones to react to their environment using only onboard sensors.
“This means that vehicles in a swarm should be able to decide their ‘actions’ based on variables they can measure with their on-board sensors, instead of having to rely on some global information being fed to them,” said Mukherjee.
The “bearing-only” control scheme simplifies the sensor system, reduces battery requirements, and lowers overall weight. It overcomes challenges related to “underactuated” drone dynamics, addressing limitations in previous systems. The researchers have provided mathematical proofs demonstrating the stability and reliability of the new system.
The technology allows for both static and dynamic formations, enabling drones to navigate narrow passages, reconfigure into single-line formations, and adapt to evolving mission requirements.
Looking ahead, the research team plans to conduct experimental tests using a drone swarm and focus on developing collision avoidance mechanisms with strong theoretical guarantees.
“Most existing algorithms rely on ad hoc collision avoidance schemes that do not come with any theoretical guarantees. Collision avoidance with objects in the environment and among drones is a challenge we are trying to tackle at a theoretical level,” said Mukherjee.
The advancement by IIT Bombay could have significant implications for various applications, including surveillance, monitoring, search and rescue, and potentially military operations.
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