<p>Boeing engineers have created a new technology that can significantly lower operating costs of drones and allow them to function like a 'swarm of insects', completing tasks quickly by communicating and acting together.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Researchers from Johns Hopkins University tested the 'swarm' technology in Oregon for several days in June, using two ScanEagle UAVs, Boeing said in a statement.<br /><br />An operator on the ground, using only a laptop and a military radio, can command an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm, task them and obtain information without using a ground control station.<br /><br />"Swarm network technology has the potential to offer more missions at less risk and lower operating costs," said Gabriel Santander, programme director of Advanced Autonomous Networks for Boeing Phantom Works.<br /><br />"This swarm technology may one day enable warfighters in battle to request and receive time-critical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information directly from airborne UAVs much sooner than they can from ground control stations today," Santander said.<br /><br />The technology will be on display in the AUVSI Unmanned Systems North America 2012 conference.</p>
<p>Boeing engineers have created a new technology that can significantly lower operating costs of drones and allow them to function like a 'swarm of insects', completing tasks quickly by communicating and acting together.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Researchers from Johns Hopkins University tested the 'swarm' technology in Oregon for several days in June, using two ScanEagle UAVs, Boeing said in a statement.<br /><br />An operator on the ground, using only a laptop and a military radio, can command an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm, task them and obtain information without using a ground control station.<br /><br />"Swarm network technology has the potential to offer more missions at less risk and lower operating costs," said Gabriel Santander, programme director of Advanced Autonomous Networks for Boeing Phantom Works.<br /><br />"This swarm technology may one day enable warfighters in battle to request and receive time-critical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information directly from airborne UAVs much sooner than they can from ground control stations today," Santander said.<br /><br />The technology will be on display in the AUVSI Unmanned Systems North America 2012 conference.</p>