IIT-Kanpur proudly showcased a ground breaking advancement in UAV technology during 1 Base Repair Depot (BRD) Kanpur Platinum Jubilee celebrations at the Air Force Station Kanpur, attended by esteemed Indian Air Force officers.

This innovative demonstration highlighted a sophisticated scalable UAV swarm system integrating 10 UAVs, committing IIT-K to pioneer in UAV capabilities emphasizing a decentralized fully automatic takeoff-to-landing payload delivery system with integrated man-in-the-loop control.

The project is anchored in its state-of-the-art communication architecture, employing a mesh topology at the network layer, in compliance with the Advanced Encryption Standards. This hardware agnostic architecture can be used to deploy swarm system using any low cost WIFI radio module making the swarm system dispensable for large scale operations. This design choice ensures a robust and secure system, eliminating any single point of failure. The system’s distributed onboard computing and mesh networking are crucial for preventing system failures, ensuring resilient and precise navigation. The UAVs’ onboard trajectory generation is meticulously developed, enabling precise navigation to the designated target coordinates.

The demonstration effectively showcased various payload delivery techniques, including sophisticated landing and placement methods, along with parachute-assisted airdrops, demonstrating the system’s adaptability and versatility. For extended-range operations, the system’s ground control station is equipped with an advanced auto-steering antenna tracking system, significantly enhancing communication range and reliability.

One of the event’s highlights was the interaction with Air Commodore Partho Shankar Gangopadhyay, offering an exchange of insights on the latest in military drone technology.