“This is a strategically important initiative for Östergötland, given the strong industries and actors based here, but it is also of major national interest,” says Fredrik Heintz, professor of computer science at Linköping University, who will lead the new research centre.
The centre will be called the Center for Heterogeneous Adaptive Swarm Systems, abbreviated CHASS. The aim is to develop autonomous swarm systems in which different types of drones operating in the air, on land and at sea can seamlessly collaborate as a single unit and carry out missions with minimal human intervention.
“All relevant applications involve significant human involvement. But the question is: what does that involvement encompass? You can imagine a mission being carried out in an environment where communication is not possible, which makes it very difficult to keep a human in the loop at all times. At the same time, it is still humans who assign the mission and define the boundaries for what the drones are allowed to do,” says Fredrik Heintz.
Anna Nilsen
Shorten development cycles
The idea is that the swarm systems will be able to configure themselves and continuously adapt to new situations using artificial intelligence. A key component will be the development of an operating system for swarms that can integrate different types of hardware platforms into a single, unified system.
The centre will also investigate sustainable drone manufacturing using modular, reusable components and 3D printing, as well as how humans and swarms can collaborate effectively and safely.
“All participating actors have different areas of expertise, and by working together over the long term on the integrated drone concept, we can achieve far more. We can see how important drones are, and development is moving rapidly, which makes it crucial to shorten development cycles and remain agile,” says Fredrik Heintz.
Broad collaboration
Linköping University is hosting the centre, which is run in collaboration with Lund University and Örebro University, together with three major industrial partners – Saab, Sectra Communications and BAE Systems Hägglunds. Smaller companies such as Irnova and Deep Forestry are also involved, as well as the Swedish Defence Research Agency, the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency and the Swedish Civil Aviation Administration. Linköping Science Park will contribute its network of companies, start-ups and Defence Hub Sweden.
“This will hopefully lead to significant commercial applications. Our goal is to conduct both basic and applied research, ranging from how these types of platforms are designed to how they function as a single unit. By working together in swarms, drones can gain entirely new capabilities and carry out complex missions in challenging environments that were previously not possible.”
The research centre will launch in 2026 and is intended to lay the foundation for long-term national collaboration on autonomous swarm systems.
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