Delft Dryad

Drone Swarms for Extreme Sports Cinematography

We are developing an autonomous swarm of 3–5 drones made to deliver multi-angle, cinematic coverage for extreme sports like downhill biking and freeride skiing. By replacing static cameras / manual operators with onboard Edge AI and LiDAR obstacle avoidance, we aim to automate the filming process.

CONTACT

Status

Overview

We are actively building our first prototype to achieve autonomous human-tracking flight. Currently we have all the necessary components needed for it and are integrating all of them together.

Progress

We have successfully managed to run Edge AI human recognition directly on our main MCU ( STM32N6). As well as built a functioning drone which is currently in the process of being fine-tuned for the first flight.

Looking ahead

For our future goals regarding obstacle avoidance we have selected our ToF LiDAR sensor and are actively developing our custom obstacle avoidance algorithm.

Context

The problem

After reviewing countless extreme sports clips, we noticed one thing they all had in common: creators constantly saying, “It was way steeper than it looks” or “The camera didn’t do it justice.” Currently the only solution is to tag someone along with lot of drone piloting experience to capture these unique and unrepeatable moments.

The solution

We want to change that. By developing an autonomous drone swarm capable of multi-angle tracking, athletes can choose the best perspective for every second of their stunt. Capturing the line exactly as it felt in reality, without needing a professional crew.

Timeline

Project Initialization

Apr

2026

Dryad is officially formed with a core two-person team to brainstorm and establish the foundation for the upcoming drone.

Architecture & Team Expansion

Jun

2026

Decided on the technical approach and the team expanded to 5 members to account for all the new tasks.

Hardware Assembly & Integration

Sep

2026

Managed to secure all primary hardware components and began end-to-end software and system integration for the initial prototype.

Liftoff

Nov

2026

Targeted to begin with the first flight testing. With the goal of stable autonomous human-tracking with a single drone (excluding obstacle avoidance).

Dryad Alpha

Jan

2027

Deployment of the first complete system prototype with full feature integration (tracking, edge AI, and initial obstacle avoidance) for a proof of concept testing.

Dryad v1

Jun

2027

Release of the first production-grade single drone, fully optimized with edge-case handling and refined autonomous navigation.

Dryad v2 (Hardware Miniaturization)

Dec

2027

Hardware architecture scaled down and compressed into a compact form factor designed specifically for multi-agent swarming.

Dryad Swarm

Jun

2028

Full commercial-ready deployment of an autonomous drone swarm capable of multi-angle athlete tracking with high-reliability collision avoidance.

Project Initialization

Apr

2026

Dryad is officially formed with a core two-person team to brainstorm and establish the foundation for the upcoming drone.

Architecture & Team Expansion

Jun

2026

Decided on the technical approach and the team expanded to 5 members to account for all the new tasks.

Hardware Assembly & Integration

Sep

2026

Managed to secure all primary hardware components and began end-to-end software and system integration for the initial prototype.

Liftoff

Nov

2026

Targeted to begin with the first flight testing. With the goal of stable autonomous human-tracking with a single drone (excluding obstacle avoidance).

Dryad Alpha

Jan

2027

Deployment of the first complete system prototype with full feature integration (tracking, edge AI, and initial obstacle avoidance) for a proof of concept testing.

Dryad v1

Jun

2027

Release of the first production-grade single drone, fully optimized with edge-case handling and refined autonomous navigation.

Dryad v2 (Hardware Miniaturization)

Dec

2027

Hardware architecture scaled down and compressed into a compact form factor designed specifically for multi-agent swarming.

Dryad Swarm

Jun

2028

Full commercial-ready deployment of an autonomous drone swarm capable of multi-angle athlete tracking with high-reliability collision avoidance.

Open Roles

Application Details

We are currently not recruiting new members. However as we will transition from our prototype new positions will open. We’ll post all updates on our website and announce new roles during project evenings. So if you would like to contribute stay tuned.

Want to join the team?

Apply