“Multidrone systems: More than the sum of the parts”, accepted for publication in IEEE Computer, 2021.

Authors: Bernhard Rinner, Christian Bettstetter, Hermann Hellwagner, and Stephan Weiss

Abstract: Drones have evolved from bulky research platforms to everyday objects that enable a variety of innovative applications. One of the current challenges is to unite individual drones into an integrated autonomous system. They should operate as a networked team to provide novel functionality that multiple individual drones can never achieve. This article addresses the building blocks of such multidrone systems: wireless connectivity, communication, and coordination. We discuss implementation aspects in three experimental case studies, compare our techniques for improving resource efficiency, and present some “lessons learned” from our research experience in this area.