The Swarm Module Architecture
How Luftschar turns commercial off-the-shelf FPV quadcopters into a coordinated swarm: UWB relative ranging, optical IR tracking, companion compute, and zero reliance on GNSS or satellite navigation.
Leader–Follower System Interconnect
The swarm module is designed as an asymmetric pairing. The leader broadcasts time-of-flight ranging frames and an optical beacon; followers infer relative spatial coordinates and command their flight controllers locally.
Leader Airframe (Node 0)
Two synchronized antennas on Luftschar's UWB unit mounted 0.45 m apart along the airframe axis.
360° wide-dispersion modulated 850 nm infrared LEDs providing optical line-of-sight bearing.
Continuous pressure altitude broadcast embedded inside UWB ranging packet payload.
Standard long-range RC control link (ELRS / Crossfire) from the ground operator.
Follower Airframe (Node 1..N)
Measures distance to leader anchor bar plus 1 peer link to adjacent follower to eliminate ambiguities.
Optical tracking of leader beacon; resolves mirror reflection without compass magnetometers.
Runs relative localization filter, formation control loop, and envelope monitors in ~0.81 ms.
Injects pitch, roll, and yaw velocity adjustments to stock flight controller at 50 Hz.
Ranging Channel
Two-way UWB ToF · 6.5 GHz · ~5 Hz
Bearing Verification
Active IR Optical Line-of-Sight
Flight Safety
Independent Pilot RC Failsafe Priority
Cleared Hardware Specifications
Every subsystem has been selected for availability in the European supply chain, resilience in contested RF environments, and compatibility with standard 10-inch FPV quadcopter frames.
Luftschar's UWB unit
Provides two-way time-of-flight (ToF) distance measurements between leader tags and follower airframes, maintaining meter-level swarm spacing even under intense RF jamming.
Technical Specs:
- Operating band: Channel 5 (6.489 GHz) / Channel 9 (7.987 GHz)
- Update rate: ~5 Hz continuous ranging session
- Baseline separation: 0.45 m dual-tag bar on leader
- Bench accuracy: mean 0.722 m, standard deviation 3.3 cm
- Zero GNSS or external RF infrastructure required
Calibrated Wide-Angle IR Camera + High-Power IR Beacon
Provides unambiguous line-of-sight angular bearing to break the UWB dual-tag mirror ambiguity without relying on magnetometers, which fail around high-current FPV motors.
Technical Specs:
- Leader beacon: Pulsed infrared LED array (850 nm / 940 nm)
- Follower sensor: High frame-rate IR camera with bandpass optical filter
- Field of view: 120° horizontal coverage
- EMF immunity: Completely decoupled from motor current magnetic fields
- Bearing resolution: < 1.0° within optical tracking cone
European compute unit (Quad-core ARM Cortex-A76 @ 2.4 GHz)
Runs the relative localization filter, coordinate frame transformations, leader-follower formation keeper, and emergency envelope guards in real time.
Technical Specs:
- Operating OS: Lightweight customized Linux RT kernel
- Formation solver execution: ~0.81 ms per cycle (vs 111 ms naive)
- Memory footprint: < 120 MB RAM allocated
- Telemetry bridges: Dual high-speed UART + SPI for UWB direct access
- Power draw: ~4.5 W nominal during active multi-unit tracking
MSP Protocol Bridge over High-Speed Serial
Transfers velocity and displacement demands directly into the drone's existing PID flight controller without requiring custom autopilot firmware or flight controller modifications.
Technical Specs:
- Protocol: MultiWii Serial Protocol (MSP v1/v2)
- Target flight controllers: Betaflight / INAV / ArduPilot
- Command rate: 50 Hz velocity and attitude offset injection
- Fail-safe protection: Hardware RC priority override on channel 5
- Interface: Optically isolated 3.3V UART at 460,800 baud
High-Precision Barometric Pressure Sensor
De-projects 3D slant ranges into 2D horizontal plane formation coordinates, allowing followers to maintain disciplined planar or stepped flight formations.
Technical Specs:
- Sensor: SPL06 / BMP280 relative barometric altimeter
- Relative altitude precision: ± 0.15 m
- De-projection ratio: Drops edges when dz exceeds 0.95 slant range
- Leader broadcast: Filtered pressure delta transmitted via UWB telemetry
Step-Down Synchronous Buck Regulator
Taps power directly from the main drone propulsion pack with ultra-low thermal dissipation and vibration dampening TPU mount enclosures.
Technical Specs:
- Input voltage: 14.8V – 25.2V (4S to 6S LiPo drone battery)
- Output: 5.1V @ 5A continuous, filtered against motor back-EMF
- Total module payload weight: < 195 grams
- Mounting: 30.5 × 30.5 mm & 20 × 20 mm stack or carbon plate mount
- Primary test platform: DroneAid Collective 10-inch FPV frame
Bolt-On Deployment: DroneAid Collective 10-Inch Platform
Rather than manufacturing proprietary airframes, Luftschar designs modules that attach directly to the airframes military units and volunteer networks already assemble and deploy at scale.
The reference platform is the DroneAid Collective 10-inch FPV quadcopter. The module mounts via standard 30.5×30.5 mm or 20×20 mm bolt patterns, taps the main battery via a fused buck converter, and connects to the flight controller using a 4-pin UART harness (TX, RX, 5V, GND).
Module Physical Envelope
Integration with Anti-Shahed Interceptors
The swarm module serves as the autonomous flight foundation for our Anti-Shahed interceptor subsystems layer.
At 400 m detection range, 3 W power draw, and 200 g total weight, the miniature radar feeds terminal guidance to intercept Shahed-136 cruise drones in all-weather conditions (rain, fog, cloud) where camera tracking fails.
• Power: 3 W (vs legacy 45 W)
• Mass: 200 g (vs legacy 800 g)
• Range: 400 m detection range
The swarm module allows a single operator to launch a coordinated barrier of interceptors. The autonomous slow-speed drone maintains loiter patrol while manual high-speed quadcopters engage rapidly upon terminal radar acquisition.
• Autonomous slow-speed interceptor class (all-weather loiter)
• Manual high-speed quadcopter interceptor class
• Shahed-shaped fixed-wing fighter concept
Explore the Measured Numbers & Engineering Notes
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