https://fedrecheski.com/tags/dotbots/ DotBots Hugo Blox Builder (https://hugoblox.com)en-usSat, 31 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://fedrecheski.com/media/icon_hu_645fa481986063ef.png https://fedrecheski.com/tags/dotbots/ https://fedrecheski.com/project/dotbots/ Sat, 31 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://fedrecheski.com/project/dotbots/ <h2 id="what-it-is">What it is</h2> <p>The <strong>DotBots Testbed</strong> is a platform for swarm robotics research and education. As of early 2026, it features <strong>725 connected, real-time-controllable micro-robots</strong>, with an ongoing goal of <strong>1,000</strong>. It is the centerpiece of <a href="https://openswarm.eu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">OpenSwarm</a>, a Horizon Europe consortium of 10 partners across Europe.</p> <p>The testbed lets researchers run large-scale swarm experiments interactively from a web browser — sending commands, collecting telemetry, and pushing firmware updates to hundreds of robots in seconds.</p> <h2 id="what-i-built">What I built</h2> <p>As Lead Research Engineer at <a href="https://aio.inria.fr/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Inria Paris</a>, I architect and lead the testbed&rsquo;s development:</p> <ul> <li>The wireless infrastructure (<a href="https://fedrecheski.com/project/mari/">Mari</a>), a custom BLE-based link layer with a TSCH schedule and mobility, scaling the radio to 100+ nodes per gateway</li> <li>Coordination inside Inria with a 3-person core testbed team</li> <li>Coordination across the OpenSwarm consortium — partners in France, Belgium, Ireland, China</li> </ul> <h2 id="why-its-hard">Why it&rsquo;s hard</h2> <p>Running an <em>interactive</em> testbed at hundreds of nodes is a different problem from any small testbed:</p> <ul> <li>Bringing 725 heterogeneous nodes online and <strong>keeping them online</strong> — flaky hardware, weak batteries, RF issues, operator error</li> <li>Pushing <strong>firmware updates</strong> to the entire fleet without bricking the ones at the back of the room</li> <li>Letting users send <strong>real-time control commands</strong> to the swarm with sub-second latency — a problem the <a href="https://fedrecheski.com/project/mari/">Mari</a> link layer was built to solve</li> <li><strong>Coordinating deployments</strong> across multiple partner sites, each with different floor plans, RF environments, and host machines</li> </ul> <h2 id="numbers">Numbers</h2> <ul> <li><strong>725 robots</strong> deployed (January 2026); <strong>1,000</strong> target</li> <li><strong>10 partner institutions</strong> across Europe (OpenSwarm consortium)</li> <li>Deployments at Inria Paris, Limerick (Ireland), and OpenSwarm partner sites across Europe</li> <li>🏆 <strong>Best Demo Award at EWSN 2025</strong> — for a 120-device live demo</li> <li>DotBot-v3 — newest robot platform, debuted at EWSN 2025</li> </ul> <h2 id="links">Links</h2> <ul> <li><a href="https://openswarm.eu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">OpenSwarm consortium</a></li> <li><a href="https://github.com/DotBots" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DotBots GitHub organization</a></li> <li><a href="https://fedrecheski.com/project/mari/">Mari</a> — the wireless link layer powering interactive control</li> </ul>