Golden IDET: Swarm of drones and robots received an honorable mention. Even the president was impressed

The successful presentation of a joint project crowned with an award for an innovative exhibit in the official trade fair competition Golden IDET was achieved by developers from Brno University of Technology and the University of Defence. The autonomous swarm of drones and robots for terrain reconnaissance was even viewed at the BUT booth by the President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel.

President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel visited the BUT booth at IDET. | Author: Václav Koníček

The announcement of the Golden IDET awards took place on the evening of May 28 at the Brno Exhibition Centre, attended by BUT Rector Ladislav Janíček and project leaders from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication (FEEC BUT), Petr Marcoň and Luděk Žalud.

“We greatly appreciate this success. It is a recognition of the effort and work of the entire inter-university project team, which includes members from BUT and the University of Defence (UNOB), and consists not only of professors and experts but also many students. I would also like to thank the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, which supported the project as part of a security research call in 2022,” commented project leader Petr Marcoň on the award and added: “We look forward to presenting the project’s results to interested parties from the Czech Army and other organizations in September at the Březina Military Training Area. Our great wish is to continue cooperation with UNOB on follow-up projects and, above all, to see the results applied and deployed in practice.”

Researchers from FEEC BUT, Luděk Žalud and Petr Marcoň, received an honorable mention for an innovative exhibit at the IDET trade fair. | Author: IDET

In total, the Golden IDET competition jury awarded four main prizes and three honorable mentions. One Golden IDET was awarded to an unmanned aerial vehicle by the Brno company TRL Drones, designed for autonomous detection, tracking, and neutralization of enemy drones, developed in part by BUT graduates. Overview of awarded exhibits in the Golden IDET competition.

The ceremonial ribbon-cutting and project launch at the BUT booth was carried out by Petr Marcoň along with the rectors of both universities, Ladislav Janíček and Jan Farlík.

“We must now pay attention to something we previously didn’t consider much—defense. Projects by BUT and UNOB clearly respond to these challenges, and I wish them development into scales and forms that will have a real impact on the defense capabilities of the Czech Republic and Europe,” said BUT Rector Ladislav Janíček.

Ceremonial ribbon cutting to launch the project: from left, UNOB Rector and Commander Jan Farlík, BUT Rector Ladislav Janíček, and Project Leader Petr Marcoň. | Author: Václav Koníček

“The project combines the technological capabilities of a public university, which are at an excellent level, with UNOB’s ability to define military application requirements. In this partnership between UNOB and BUT, which extends to many other areas, I see enormous potential for the future. I firmly believe that the cooperation will continue, as such projects enhance defense capabilities and save lives,” emphasized UNOB Rector-Commander Jan Farlík during the launch.

Project details were explained by Luděk Žalud, who is primarily responsible for the development of ground robots. He explained the project’s motivations, mission flow, the autonomous functioning of the swarm, and individual technical components. “One of the major advantages of the swarm is that all the code and most of the electronic components are the result of our team’s development and belong to BUT,” said Luděk Žalud, adding that the solution is also being adapted to new challenges arising from current wartime experiences, such as resistance to spoofing drone localization or the ability to complete missions without communication systems.

The ceremonial presentation of the swarm of drones and robots was moderated by one of the main researchers, Luděk Žalud. | Author: Václav Koníček

The autonomous swarm of drones and robots for terrain reconnaissance is an AI-controlled system developed by experts from FEEC BUT and UNOB, primarily for the needs of the Czech Army, but also for the Integrated Rescue System (IRS). Through modular sensor configurations, the system can gather information about potential threats—such as enemy unit activity, terrain conditions, or post-disaster environments like chemical plant accidents or dirty bomb incidents. Thanks to rapid and detailed reconnaissance of risky areas, the system reduces the need to deploy human personnel into dangerous zones.

The project "An Artificial Intelligence-Controlled Robotic System for Intelligence and Reconnaissance Operations, VJ02010036" was supported by the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic under the Strategic Support for the Development of Security Research Program in the Czech Republic 2019–2025 (IMPAKT 1).

Other exhibits presented by BUT at the IDET fair included ballistic walls MobiSHIELD and the APALER device for protecting pilots from laser dazzling. In total, nine cutting-edge technologies from BUT were showcased at IDET.