The national research centre is led by Linköping University and run in collaboration with Lund University and Örebro University, together with partners from industry and the wider community. CHASS is funded with SEK 60 million over six years by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF). The aim is to develop autonomous swarm systems in which different types of platforms in the air, on land and at sea can work together seamlessly with minimal human intervention.
The technology has the potential to be used in a range of societally important contexts, for example in search and rescue, the monitoring of wildfires, environmental monitoring, deliveries in emergency situations and the protection of critical infrastructure. The vision is to transform how swarm systems are designed, manufactured, deployed and used in practice.
CHASS is built around three core components:
- A research programme in which PhD students and senior researchers jointly develop new knowledge about different aspects of drone swarms.
- An integration programme that translates theoretical results into practical applications and test environments.
- Shared activities in education, skills development and internationalisation.
At Linköping University, nine PhD positions are now being advertised in the following areas:
- Computer Science with a focus on heterogeneous adaptive swarm systems
- Sensor fusion and optimal motion planning for drone swarms
- Computer vision and learning systems for heterogenous adaptive swarm systems
- Design with a focus on heterogeneous adaptive swarm systems
- Cognitive Science or Design with a focus on societally critical use of drone swarms
- Distributed radar and communication in autonomous drone swarms
For the PhD students, this initiative offers an opportunity to contribute to research with clear societal benefit and a direct link to future applications. Over a six-year period, the centre will train at least fourteen PhD students while also helping to strengthen Swedish expertise and innovation capacity in autonomous drone swarm systems.
Lund University and Örebro University will also start recruiting their PhD students to the national research centre soon.
