Lawin: A Tactical Drone Swarm for Autonomous Search and Tracking

Search and tracking drones have become essential in modern military and defense operations, particularly in environments involving open terrain and artillery, such as the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Despite their critical role, current state-of-the-art drones for search and tracking remain predominantly remote-controlled, which presents several key limitations. First, the range of these drones is restricted due to the signal strength requirements for remote-control piloting. Second, each operator is typically limited to piloting a single drone, reducing the effectiveness of large-area searches. Third, electronic warfare countermeasures can disrupt remote control signals and expose the operator's location, hindering both operational scaling and the ability to deploy accurate long-range capabilities.

To address these challenges, we of Ixean propose Lawin, a fully autonomous tactical drone swarm system designed to revolutionize search and tracking capabilities.

Raspberry Pi Testing

The Ixean Lawin system empowers operators to select a designated search area, defined by GPS coordinates, which is then subdivided into N sub-rectangles: one for each drone in the swarm. For example, if there are N Lawin in the swarm, the search region will be evenly divided, and each Lawin will autonomously navigate to its assigned sub-rectangle. Once in position, each Lawin will ascend to a fixed altitude and begin its search at the nearest corner, following a deterministic zigzag search pattern. This pattern can be customized by the operator to prioritize either a more thorough, slower search or a faster scan with less coverage.

A core innovation of the Lawin system is its swarm intelligence algorithm, which enables each drone to continuously calculate a "fitness value." This value is based on the number of targets detected by the drone's onboard computer vision camera and is shared with all other Lawin in the swarm. When a Lawin detects targets, it partially deviates from its predefined search pattern to track these targets, keeping them within its field of vision while still exploring the surrounding area.

Once a Lawin's fitness value surpasses a predefined threshold, it will signal the nearest Lawin with a fitness value of zero, alerting it to the presence of a target-rich environment. This collaboration within the swarm maximizes search efficiency, ensuring that once targets are located, the swarm can focus on further detecting and tracking potential threats.

Throughout the operation, drones with positive fitness values relay critical information, such as GPS coordinates, to the operator, ensuring real-time situational awareness. After a set period, all Lawin return autonomously to the operator's position.

Fitness values from the ATI's AI model

Lawin Drone Specifications

Each Ixean Lawin drone is a long-range quadcopter designed for optimal performance in tactical operations.

The drone features:

Propeller length: 180 mm

Motor size: 291 - 310 mm

Arm size: 5.5 mm

Overall dimensions: Approximately 330 mm x 120 mm

This design allows for a robust, efficient, and highly maneuverable drone capable of performing complex search and tracking missions across large areas with minimal operator input. 

The following diagram illustrates the search behavior of the Lawin system.

Lawin Flight Pattern Configuration with two drones

Market Differentiation

The Ixean Lawin offers a groundbreaking solution to the limitations of current remote-controlled search and tracking drones. By leveraging autonomous swarm intelligence, Lawin drones can efficiently cover larger areas, coordinate seamlessly, and adapt dynamically to emerging threats— all while mitigating the risks associated with signal jamming and operator vulnerability.

With Lawin, we redefine the possibilities for search and tracking in defense operations, providing a scalable, efficient, and resilient system capable of tackling the most complex challenges in modern warfare.

Given increasing tensions of maritime threats such as in the West Philippine Sea, Lawin can be modified for tactical maritime search and tracking purposes, as it can be equipped with an infrared flood light camera and custom-built AI for infrared imagery for low light detection.