Fleet with imagination: in Russia, for the first time, a swarm of drones will be tested in three environments

Scientists in Vladivostok are preparing tests of a robotic complex in which underwater, surface and aerial drones will operate as a single system. At the marine test site in Fedorov Bay, experts will check how the devices interact in different environments when searching for biological resources, inspecting the underwater part of ships and environmental monitoring, as well as how stable the connection between them remains. "The "robotic triad" can be found elsewhere in the "Izvestia" article.

Collaboration of different drones

Currently, unmanned marine systems solve separate tasks: unmanned boats operate on the surface, while autonomous and remote—controlled vehicles operate underwater. Developers from Admiral G.I. Nevelsky Maritime State University (Nevelsky Moscow State University) want to combine such devices with aerial drones so that they can act as a single system.

"In any case, there will be three components: aerial, surface and underwater," said Anton Gubankov, scientific director of the Marine Robotic Triad strategic project, head of the Scientific Laboratory of Marine Unmanned Aviation and Marine Aviation Systems at the Nevelsky Moscow State University, PhD, Associate Professor.

According to him, each type of device will have its own task. A surface drone will be able to deliver the necessary equipment to a given area, underwater vehicles will be able to conduct surveys and measurements, and an aerial drone will be able to search for objects and provide communication between system participants. At the same time, all devices should be controlled by a single system.

For example, when searching for an underwater object, a crewless boat will be able to enter the desired water area and deploy underwater vehicles. They will conduct an examination, and an aerial drone, if necessary, will ensure the transmission of information over a long distance.

The developers are considering a similar scenario for finding fish. The boat will deliver the underwater vehicles to the desired point, they will explore the area, after which the system will transmit to the operator the already processed result — whether there are fish there.

— Raw information is not transmitted through these channels, and large broadband communications are not required there, — Anton Gubankov explained.

The first stage of testing took place on August 17, 2026 in the Amur Bay. The specialists tested the MANS 02 unmanned vessel, developed at the Nevelsky Moscow State University. It has become part of a system in which surface, underwater and aerial robots must work together. "The tests" took place at the university's marine testing ground as part of the "Aquatoria" experiment, organized by the Marinet 5.0 infrastructure center. The next stage is scheduled for 2027.

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According to the representative of "Marinet 5.0" Rodion Mamatkhanov, the project currently has five application scenarios. The most developed ones are related to ensuring the safety of port infrastructure and coastal waters, as well as the search for biological resources. Another area is environmental monitoring. For example, the system will be able to detect an oil slick in the port area and help determine its origin.

— Environmental monitoring is also important, there is a groundwork for it. Perhaps it will simply be used as an integral part of the security scenario," Anton Gubankov noted.

So far, the developers cannot say for sure which scenario will be the first to be put into practical use. This will depend, among other things, on the requests of industrial partners. The system is being tested as part of the "Priority 2030" program.

Robots will need AI solutions

One of the objectives of the project will be to collect data on the operation of multi-medium robotic complexes in the current marine conditions. The developers want to determine which devices and functions are really needed to solve different tasks, and which may be redundant.

According to Anton Gubankov, it is premature to talk about creating a separate standard for such complexes. GOST R 60 is already in force in robotics, and there are their own regulatory documents for certain types of autonomous underwater vehicles. However, the configuration of the multi-media system is still being formed.

— As soon as the appearance of the entire product or some of its components becomes clear, then it will be possible to talk about standardization, - the developer explained.

According to him, regulatory requirements may be adjusted in the future as a mass market for such systems becomes available.

The very setting up of the experiment is important for the industry, since the joint operation of different types of devices is being tested, says NTI expert on new materials and technologies Evgeny Vishnevsky.

— The experiment looks well-designed, since it checks the joint operation of heterogeneous systems: underwater, surface and aerial vehicles. Such a bundle is technically more difficult than developing one separate robot," he noted.

Artificial intelligence may become another element of such complexes. It can be used to process images from cameras, recognize objects, and analyze the data received. At the same time, AI is not the basis of the entire system and will be used only where necessary, Anton Gubankov added.

— Artificial intelligence has very limited capabilities here, that is, it is not based there and, of course, it is planned to be used, but only for its intended purpose, — said the developer.

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AI is already becoming an important part of modern robotics, said Andrey Raigorodsky, Director of the Physics and Technology School of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science at MIPT, Head of the Caucasus Mathematical Center of Adygea State University, Doctor of Physico-Mathematical Sciences, Professor. According to him, the robot should be able to perceive the environment, including with the help of computer vision technologies, which belong to the field of artificial intelligence.

— Artificial intelligence will play a huge role in the development of robotics. A robot cannot exist without elements that are collectively called artificial intelligence. For example, a robot must be able to look, and for this it must have good computer vision. Computer vision is part of AI," he explained.

According to the scientist, further development of these technologies will make it possible to create more independent and versatile robots. MIPT already has departments and laboratories that develop various types of robots and apply AI. At the current stage, the project's task is not so much to create a ready-made "fleet of robots" as to test how different drones can complement each other and what functions they should be assigned.

Based on the results of the research, the developers expect to determine the practical appearance of such a system and promising areas of its application.