Drone swarms: How they actually work and what industries should care - The Robot Report

The article from The Robot Report explores the concept, functionality, and practical applications of drone swarms, emphasizing their potential to transform industries like agriculture. Unlike loosely coordinated groups of drones controlled centrally, true drone swarms operate through decentralized decision-making, where each drone independently processes local data and synchronizes with peers without hierarchical control or constant human oversight. This natural swarm behavior, inspired by ants or birds, enables scalability, adaptability, and efficient coverage of large or complex environments, reducing labor costs significantly—up to 30% over time—primarily by minimizing human involvement, which often accounts for 70% of drone operation expenses. In agricultural settings, autonomous drone swarms utilize onboard computing, specialized sensors (e.g., multispectral cameras), and GPS technologies to perform precise, task-based actions such as targeted fertilization. For example, drones detect nutrient deficiencies using vegetation indices and dynamically assign the closest capable drone to apply fertilizer, optimizing resource use and preventing environmental damage. The article highlights that over the next five