Robot vehicle platforms, often called “drones”, offer exciting opportunities for mobile computing applications, as they allow computer systems to actively control the device location for a more efficient and precise interaction with the physical world. While larger drones may weigh more than 1 kg and require a certified operator, nano-drones weigh only tens of grams, are sold as toys, and can be flown by everyone. An example of nano-drone is the Crazyflie, which is open source, weighs ≈ 25 grams only, and has quickly gained popularity in the last years.
We have recently equipped the Crazyflie with an ultra-wideband (UWB) shield on top based on the MDEK 1001, similar to the Loco Positioning system by bitcraze
. Such shield allows the Crazyflie to communicate with surrounding UWB devices and obtain accurate distance information. Our goal is to accurately navigate a swarm of Crazyflies through the hallways of our institute, possibly by incorporating UWB-based algorithms and protocols designed in our group, such as SnapLoc. To this end, we have deployed a testbed with more than 50 UWB devices across a hallway as well as a drone cage that can be used to experiment with the Crazyflie.