The Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California recently set a world record by lofting 50 drones in the air all at once, controlled by a single person.
As it stands now, it’s the biggest drone swarm of all time, but I find it hard to believe the swarm record won’t be broken relatively soon with the emergence of drone popularity.
The only real issue that comes with breaking the record is money, as the Zephyr drones that were used cost approximately $2,000 a piece and are capable of communicating with each other via Wi-Fi.
Kevin Jones, leader of the project, explained to New Scientist how the team developed algorithms that allowed the drones to effectively swarm together.
“Most of the swarming operations are things like ‘follow-me’ mode, where one or more UAVs follow a leader around the sky. The swarm behavior looks quite random as the aircraft move around the sky trying to optimally search an area in the shortest amount of time.”
It remains to be seen how long this record will stand but don’t be surprised if the Naval Postgraduate School sets out to shatter their own record.
