The first week of November marked an exciting milestone for our project: the first-ever underwater RF communication test for our drone swarm! After weeks of preparation, our Communication Subteam headed to Switzerland’s scenic (and chilly) Greifensee to put their hard work to the test—and the results were nothing short of successful.

The goal was ambitious: develop a wireless antenna system capable of overcoming the high attenuation and distortion of underwater environments. The team designed a custom antenna system operating at low MHz radio frequencies, enclosed it in a watertight housing, and made sure it fit perfectly within our modular drones.

The big test day brought challenges of its own—cold November winds and curious looks from local fishers—but the team stayed focused. Their determination paid off: the system achieved reliable data exchange over distances of 10 to 15 meters, enough for our drones to maintain their controlled formation while keeping power consumption low. Even better, the hardware performed well with lower-than-expected transmission power, paving the way for further improvements.

This is just the beginning! Our first successful test opens the door to a series of future experiments. In the coming weeks and months, we’ll continue testing with improved hardware options, fine-tuning our design to push the limits of range and efficiency. We also plan to test in new environments, including controlled pools, to understand how factors like salinity, turbidity, and interference affect communication.

With the hardware now proven in the field, the team is shifting gears to tackle the software challenge: developing a custom swarm data exchange protocol to enable our drones to share and process information in real time, transceiving all the data via the custom antennas.

The best is yet to come. Stay tuned for updates as we take our swarm from concept to reality, one test at a time! 🌊🤖