MUMBAI, India, Feb. 6 -- Intellectual Property India has published a patent application (202511131218 A) filed by Poornima University; Dr. Vaishali Sonwane; Dr. Bindiya Jain; Ms. Pooja Arora; and Ms. Yashika Saini, Jaipur, Rajasthan, on Dec. 24, 2025, for 'advanced coordination approach for small uavs in military operations for target search along with sensors and drone.'
Inventor(s) include Poornima University; Dr. Vaishali Sonwane; Dr. Bindiya Jain; Ms. Pooja Arora; and Ms. Yashika Saini.
The application for the patent was published on Feb. 6, under issue no. 06/2026.
According to the abstract released by the Intellectual Property India: "This invention introduces a biologically-inspired coordination system specifically designed for small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) engaged in military target search operations within complex, unstructured environments. The core innovation lies in the utilization of digital pheromone-based stigmergy a communication mechanism inspired by social insects such as ants and bees to enable fully decentralized, autonomous swarm behaviour without reliance on continuous centralized control. Each UAV in the swarm is equipped with imperfect, probabilistic target-detection sensors that are subject to noise and environmental interference. Upon detecting a potential target or an area of interest, a UAV releases a digital pheromone marker into a shared spatiotemporal communication field that is accessible to all swarm members. These digital pheromones act as virtual chemical signals, analogous to those used by biological swarms, to convey information about promising search zones. The digital pheromone signals are continuously aggregated, diffused, and updated among neighbouring UAVs through local communication links, creating dynamic, attractive potential fields across the operational area. These potential fields serve to collectively steer the UAV swarm's movements, guiding individual drones toward regions of highest target likelihood while encouraging efficient spatial coverage. This emergent behaviour fosters robust cooperative search patterns that adapt fluidly to environmental changes, sensor uncertainties, and variations in swarm size or composition. Key features of the system include real-time adaptability and scalability. The decentralized nature of the pheromone-based coordination allows the swarm to maintain effective operation even when individual UAVs experience sensor degradation, communication loss, or limited battery endurance. The distributed decision-making framework reduces the computational and communication load on any single unit, enabling the use of lightweight, low-cost drones with constrained on board processing power. Moreover, the biologically inspired stigmergy mechanism inherently promotes collision avoidance and prevents redundant search efforts by dynamically modulating the pheromone gradients. This ensures that UAVs distribute themselves optimally across the search space, minimizing overlap and maximizing the probability of target detection. By leveraging these principles, the invention significantly enhances mission reliability and operational robustness in demanding military scenarios characterized by uncertain terrains and adversarial conditions. The system's ability to coordinate large UAV swarms autonomously with minimal centralized intervention represents a substantial advancement in swarm robotics, offering efficient, scalable, and resilient solutions for complex target search and reconnaissance tasks."
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
