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Bitcraze at ICRA 2025

  2025-06-09  |     |    Leave a comment

A couple of weeks ago, we were at ICRA 2025 in Atlanta. This year’s ICRA drew over 7,000 attendees, making it the biggest edition yet. We had a booth at the exhibition where we showed our decentralized swarm demo. The setup included a mix of Crazyflie 2.1+ units with Qi charging decks and Crazyflie 2.1 Brushless platforms with our new charging dock. The entire swarm operated onboard, with two Lighthouse base stations for positioning. More details about the setup can be found in the recent swarm demo blog post.

8 Crazyflies flying simultaneously in our decentralized swarm at ICRA 2025

Some of the brushless drones carried our high-powered LED deck prototype to make the swarm more visible and engaging. One of the drones also had a prototype camera streaming deck, which held up well despite the busy wireless environment.

A Different Perspective

This year we were also invited to participate in a workshop: 25 Years of Aerial Robotics: Challenges and Opportunities, where I (Rik) gave a short presentation about the evolution of positioning in the Crazyflie, from webcam-based AruCo marker tracking to the systems we use today.

Usually, we spend most of our time on the exhibition floor, so being part of a workshop like this was a different experience. It was interesting to hear researchers mention the Crazyflie in their work without needing to explain what it is. That kind of familiarity isn’t something we take for granted, and it was nice to see.

The workshop also gave us a chance to talk with both established researchers and newer faces in the field. What stood out most was hearing how people are using the Crazyflie in their work today. It’s very rewarding to see how what we do at the office connects with and supports real research.

Catching Up and Looking Around

One of the most rewarding parts of the conference was the chance to connect directly with people using the platform. We talked to many users, both current and past, and saw new research based on the platform. It was also great to reconnect with Flapper Drones, who build flapping-wing vehicles powered by the Crazyflie Bolt. And it was nice to see HopTo on the exhibition floor for the first time. The company is a spin-off from the Robotics and Intelligent Systems Lab at CityU Hong Kong, which published a Science Robotics paper on the hopcopter concept that used a Crazyflie. We also had the chance to catch up with a maintainer of CrazySim, an open-source simulator in the Crazyflie ecosystem. It’s always valuable to connect with people building on top of the platform, whether through research, hardware, or open-source tools.

Wrapping Up

ICRA 2025 was packed with activity. From demoing the swarm, to the workshop, to hallway conversations, it gave us a lot of valuable feedback and insight. Thanks to everyone who stopped by, joined a talk, or came to say hello.

Empowering Innovation in China: Bitcraze and NOKOV Motion Capture Forge a Strategic Partnership

  2025-06-02  |     |    Leave a comment

As the demand for open, modular, and research-grade robotics continues to grow, Bitcraze is entering a strategic distribution partnership in China, one of the world’s most advanced and fast-evolving markets for robotics and education.

Researchers, educators, and industrial developers in China will benefit from easy access to Bitcraze’s entire product ecosystem. This includes high-performance indoor drones, positioning systems, and modular development tools widely used in academia and R&D across the globe.

Our new exclusive agreement with NOKOV Motion Capture, marks a step forward in expanding access to our autonomous drone systems and robotics development kits across China.

Expanding Access for China’s Robotics Community

Through NOKOV Motion Capture, customers in China gain professional support in Mandarin, short delivery times, and access to official training, demos, and bundled solutions. Together, we’re making it easier than ever for Chinese institutions to explore autonomous flight, precision tracking, and open-source robotics innovation.

A Powerful Integration of Motion Capture and Flight

One of the most exciting aspects of this partnership is the technical synergy between NOKOV Motion Capture’s industry-leading motion capture systems and Bitcraze’s versatile flight platforms. NOKOV Motion Capture’s optical tracking technology is already a staple in academic and industrial research labs throughout China.

By integrating this with Bitcraze’s drones and positioning systems, users can achieve highly accurate, low-latency indoor positioning, conduct repeatable flight experiments with synchronized motion data, and enjoy a seamless workflow from trajectory capture to analysis.

This combination opens up new possibilities for research in fields like robotics control, swarm behavior, artificial intelligence, and simulation.

Supporting Research, Education, and Development

Bitcraze’s systems have earned the trust of top universities and laboratories around the globe. With this partnership, we continue to support Chinese institutions working on:

  • Swarm robotics and AI research
  • STEM and engineering education
  • Indoor navigation and environment interaction
  • Lightweight aerial prototyping and simulation

We believe in giving innovators the tools they need to experiment freely, iterate faster, and go further.

Start Your Journey with Us

Whether you’re designing new robotic systems or preparing your classroom for hands-on drone-based learning, Bitcraze and NOKOV are here to support your ambitions.

If you’d like to learn more or get started with our products in China, please reach out to NOKOV for local support and information.

https://www.nokov.com/products/robotics/crazyflie-crazyswarm-platform.html

https://en.nokov.com/products/robotics-motion-capture/crazyflie-crazyswarm.html

Together, we’re making robotics innovation more accessible, collaborative, and inspiring for everyone.

Crazyflies locating threats in urban environments

  2025-05-26  |     |    Leave a comment

As we mentioned in a previous blog post, the last couple of weeks have been full of exciting events in the US. We first began our adventure in Charlotte, North Carolina, where we attended the International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS), as platinum sponsors.

We were especially thrilled to be involved because the final stage of the conference’s competition featured Crazyflies, which played a central role in the challenge.

The ICUAS UAV Competition

This year’s competition simulated a search mission in an urban environment. The goal was for teams to identify ArUco markers placed on multiple obstacles, while maintaining line-of-sight and communication among a swarm of three Crazyflies.

Each team’s UAVs launched from a designated base, navigated a known environment, and attempted to locate several targets. The drones relied on an OptiTrack system for positioning and used the AI deck as a camera for image recognition. Constant communication between the base and all UAVs was required throughout the mission.

The event, organized by the LARICS team, combined both simulation and real-world implementation. Their hard work ensured that competitors could smoothly transition their systems from digital models to actual flying drones. What followed was an intense and fun two-day hackathon.

Although the ICUAS UAV Competition drew interest from 26 teams globally, only five finalist teams made it to Charlotte to run their scenarios with real drones. In the end, it was Team Aerial Robotics from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK) who took home first place—congratulations to them!

While the event went smoothly overall, some communication challenges cropped up—solved creatively by placing a radio in the center of the arena. Battery management was also key, with fully charged packs being a hot commodity to maximize flight time.

Research and Presentations

Alongside the competition, the conference featured a wide range of research presentations. We were proud to see Rik present on the AI deck during a workshop focused on embodied AI.

One of the highlights was the Best Paper Award, which—although we missed the talk, was awarded to a team from Queen’s university using the Crazyflie to simulate drone landings on ocean waves. You can read their fascinating paper here:
https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.21674

Final Thoughts

Overall, ICUAS 2025 was a great experience—full of innovation, collaboration, and of course, plenty of flight time. We’re grateful to the organizers, competitors, and everyone who stopped by our booth. Until next time!

Bitcraze’s Infinite Flight: Recent Progress in Persistent Autonomous Drone Operations

  2025-05-12  |     |    Leave a comment

Imagine a drone that can fly indefinitely, autonomously recharging and navigating its environment with minimal human intervention. For corporate innovators designing proof of concept solutions or researchers seeking to push the boundaries of autonomous systems, Bitcraze’s Infinite Flight project represents a novel opportunity.

Since Bitcraze first introduced the “Infinite Flight” concept in 2023, the idea of a Crazyflie drone that can operate for days, autonomously recharging and executing missions, has steadily moved from experiment to practical tool. For those working in robotics, automation, or research, this is a quick update on what’s changed and why it matters.

What’s Changed Since the last Infinite Flight?

Hardware and Firmware Improvements

  • Crazyflie 2.1 Brushless now features improved power efficiency and longer flight times, which is essential for multi-day operation.
  • Charging Dock Upgrades: The move from Qi wireless to contact-based charging has made energy transfer more reliable and reduced cycle downtime.
  • Firmware Stability: The latest firmware (2025.02) brings fixes for brushless ESC flashing, improved default parameters, and more robust long-duration performance.
  • Host Software: The cfclient now uses PyQt6 for better graphical performance, and cflib’s new full-state setpoints offer more precise control.

Navigation and Autonomy

  • Recent work on visual route following enables Crazyflie to retrace long paths using snapshot-based visual homing, reducing drift even on resource-constrained hardware.
  • The autopilot’s app layer now makes it easier to implement custom, persistent behaviors without deep firmware changes.

Real-World Applications of Infinite Flight

Research and Industry Applications

  • Environmental Monitoring: Continuous data collection for air quality or wildlife studies, where drones need to operate for days at a time.
  • Industrial Inspections: Persistent monitoring of infrastructure like wind farms or power grids, reducing the need for human intervention.
  • Swarm and Formation Flight Research: Some labs are using Crazyflie to simulate spacecraft formation flying or to test swarm coordination algorithms over long durations.
  • Route Following: The new visual homing approach allows for reliable, repeatable long-range missions, which is especially valuable for mapping or inspection tasks.

Why Infinite Flight Matters

Long-duration, autonomous operation is a key enabler for real-world robotics. The recent hardware and software updates make Crazyflie a more practical platform for those kinds of experiments-whether you’re working on persistent autonomy, adaptive navigation, or multi-agent systems.

If you’re experimenting with similar ideas or have a use case that could benefit from multi-day drone operation, it might be worth a look at the latest Infinite Flight developments. As always, feedback and collaboration from the community are welcome.

Start your Infinite Flight Now

Ready to experience the power of uninterrupted autonomous flight? The Infinite Flight Bundle equips you with all the essential tools to keep your Crazyflie 2.1 Brushless airborne around the clock.

The package leverages the Lighthouse positioning system, providing precise on-board tracking across a 5x5x2 meter area. With accuracy reaching below 10 cm and minimal jitter, your drone can safely navigate its flight path while autonomously docking on a charging pad. Once recharged, it’s ready to lift off again—enabling continuous flight operations without manual intervention.

New Business and Strategic Partner Development Capacity

  2025-05-05  |     |    Leave a comment

Fredrik Ehrenstråle joins Bitcraze as Strategic Growth Director

Have you ever wondered what could happen if open robotics were truly accessible to everyone — researchers, educators, and innovators alike? That’s the vision that drew me to Bitcraze, and why I’m thrilled to share that I’ve joined the team as Strategic Growth Director.

Bitcraze isn’t just a technology company — it’s a community of curious, collaborative people who believe in making robotics both powerful and playful. From my very first conversation with the team, I felt the energy and integrity that set this place apart.

Over the past decade, I’ve had the privilege of working with organizations big and small, translating complex tech into real-world impact. What excites me most is helping people like you turn bold ideas into reality — whether you’re pushing the boundaries of research, inspiring students in the classroom, or building new industrial solutions.

At Bitcraze, I’ll focus on finding new ways for us to grow, building partnerships that matter, and making sure our story resonates with the people who can benefit most. But more than anything, I want to listen and learn from this amazing community.

If you’re curious about what we’re building, have thoughts on the future of robotics, or just want to swap ideas, I’d love to connect. Let’s shape what’s next together!

Bitcraze is Getting Ready for ICUAS and ICRA – with Talks, Workshops, and New Prototypes!

  2025-04-28  |     |    Leave a comment

In just two weeks, we’re packing our Crazyflies and heading off for a busy and exciting couple of events: ICUAS (International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems) and ICRA (IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation) in Atlanta.
This year is a bit different for us: not only will we be showing some new prototypes, but we’re also giving three presentations across the two conferences.
In this post, we’ll share a quick overview of what we’ll be presenting and a first glimpse at the prototypes we’re bringing along.

ICUAS 2025

Charlotte, N.C.
May 14-17

First stop: ICUAS, where we’re proud to sponsor the competition. Teams will be using Crazyflies both in simulation and real life to deploy UAV teams in an urban environment to identify threats – and we’ll be there to support them!

But that’s not all:
As part of the workshop “Embodied-AI for Aerial Robots: What do we need for full autonomy?“, Rik will present a keynote titled “Crazyflie and the Realities of Edge AI.” The talk shares practical lessons from bringing AI onto the Crazyflie, covering challenges with complex toolchains, fragmented ecosystems, and the gap between expectations and real-world constraints, along with a look at how new hardware developments could reshape what is possible for small aerial robots.

It’s our first time attending ICUAS, and we’re thrilled to not only be part of the competition but to actively contribute to the technical discussions.

ICRA 2025

Atlanta, GA
May 19-23

Just two days after ICUAS ends, we’re heading straight to ICRA in Atlanta.
You’ll find us at booth 131, right in front of the Tech Talk stage – come by and say hello!

At ICRA, Rik will speak in the workshop “25 Years of Research in Aerial Robotics“, giving a talk titled “Crazyflie and the Art of Getting Where You Meant To Go“. He’ll reflect on Bitcraze’s journey through the classic aerial robotics challenge of positioning, from the early days of building a tiny, modular flying PCB to supporting researchers around the world.

We’ll also take part in the Undergraduate Robotics Education Forum on May 22nd, where Barbara will be presenting a poster about Crazyflie as an educational platform.

New Prototype Sneak Peek

As always, we’re bringing prototypes for upcoming products:
We’ll be showing a prototype of a straightforward camera deck with WiFi streaming, aimed at adding basic visual capabilities to the Crazyflie.


We’ll also bring an updated demo setup with even more Brushless Crazyflies and charging docks — combining the best parts of last year’s ICRA presentation and our current “fish tank” office demo.
The demo will also feature prototype High Power LED decks, a new product we’re currently working on.

If you’re curious about what’s next for Crazyflie, this is a perfect chance to get an early look and chat with us about it!

Bring Your Posters!

Last year, we decorated the Bitcraze office with posters from researchers working with Crazyflies, and it turned out amazing. We’d love to do it again!
If you have a poster you’re proud of featuring Crazyflie, bring it by the booth – we’ll swap it for a little Bitcraze surprise.

All in all, it’s shaping up to be two incredible weeks.
Whether you’re attending ICUAS, ICRA, or both, stop by to see the Crazyflies in action, hear what we’re working on, and chat with us.
We can’t wait to reconnect with old friends and meet new ones — see you soon!

Bitcraze’s conferences in May

  2025-04-07  |     |    Leave a comment

We’ve got an exciting month ahead – in just a few weeks, we’re heading off to not one, but two amazing conferences! It’s going to be a whirlwind, but we couldn’t be more thrilled to be part of these events, meet fellow robotics enthusiasts, and show off some cool demos. Here’s where you’ll find us:

First stop: ICUAS

We’re kicking things off with ICUAS (International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems), where we’re proud to be official sponsors of the competition. We’ll be present there to help and support the constestants of the competition, that are going to use the Crazyflies in simulation and in real life. The teams will need to deploy a team of UAVs in an urban environment to locate and identify threats.

It’s our first time attending ICUAS, so this is a brand new adventure for us – and we can’t wait to dive in and see what it’s all about!

Next up: ICRA

Just two days after ICUAS wraps up, we’re heading straight to ICRA – this year taking place in Atlanta. You’ll be able to find us at booth 131, right in front of the Tech Talk stage. If you’re attending, definitely come say hi!

We had the honour to be invited to be part of the workshop “25 years of arial robotics: challenges and opportunities“. Rik will talk there on the 23th of May at 16.10; covering Bitcraze’s history and the challenges we’ve faced in positioning a nanocopter – all in just 10 minutes. We’ll also take part in the forum on Undergraduate Robotics Education Programs on the 22th of May. We’ll have a poster presenting the Crazyflie as an educational platform.

These are all fantastic opportunities to highlight what makes our platform special and to exchange ideas with you! If you’ve got a paper or publication featured at ICRA, we’d love to hear about it – email us at contact@bitcraze.io, leave a comment below this post, or drop by our booth.

Demo

We’re bringing back our trusted demo setup – but this time, with more Brushless units and charging docks! It will be a version between what we presented at the last ICRA and what we call “the fish tank demo” we have now at the office.

We’ll also be bringing along some prototypes and new decks we’re currently working on – so if you’re curious about what’s coming next for Crazyflie, this is your chance to get a sneak peek and chat with us about it!

Give us your posters!

Last year, we collected posters from proud participants to decorate the office, and it turned out amazing – so we’re doing it again! If you’ve got a cool poster featuring our products and aren’t sure what to do with it after your presentation, come by our booth. We’d love to swap it for something a little extra special.

All in all, it’s shaping up to be a busy, exciting, and (hopefully) couple of weeks. Whether you’re at ICUAS or ICRA, stop by, chat with us, and see the Crazyflies in action. We’re looking forward to reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones – see you there!

Robotic track at Embedded Linux Conference Europe 2025

  2025-03-24  |     |    Leave a comment

This year at the Embedded Linux Conference Europe 2025 the 25-27th of August in Amsterdam, there will be a Robotic and simulation sub-track!

This is a follow-up of the Fosdem robotic and simulation I and Kimberly helped organize at Fosdem 2025. The Embedded Linux Conference is taking place this year in the Open Source Summit Europe and we helped by providing some insights on what a robotic track could look like!

This is a very interesting open-source conference, on the opposite side of the spectrum to Fosdem. We are very excited that there is interest in organizing robotics talks there as well, since there are a lot of very important and great open-source projects in the robotic space. I will definitely be joining this year!

This track will explore how open-source technologies are shaping the robotics industry, from software frameworks to simulation projects. There will be talks about tools and their impact, offering insights into both their development process and real-world implementation. If you are interested in giving a talk about your project, you can find the Call for Proposal on the OSS website. The deadline for proposals is the 14th of April and speakers get to attend OSS for free which is a nice perk :-).

A last technical note, the robotic and simulation subtrack, is intended to contain only full 40min talks. So to summit your talk, you need to choose the “Embedded Linux Conference” track, “Robotics” topic and “Session Presentation (40min)”.

Bitcraze at HRI 2025 with How To Train Your Drone

  2025-03-17  |     |    Leave a comment

Human Robot Interaction (HRI) is a conference that brings together academics and industry partners to explore how humans are interacting with the latest developments in robotics. The conference is held yearly and brings together the many relevant disciplines concerned with the “H” part (cognitive science, neuroscience), the “R” part (computer science, engineering) and the I part (social psychology, education, anthropology and most recently, design).

This year it was in Melbourne (my home city) and I was so grateful to be given the chance to demonstrate a system from my PhD studies called “How To Train Your Drone” in what was its final hurrah, a retirement party! Running the demo was a pleasure, especially with the supportive and curious HRI crowd at such a well organised event .

The take home message from this demonstration was this:

If you let the end user shape, with their hands, the sensory field of the drone, they then end up with an in-depth understanding of it. This allows the user to creatively explore how the drone relates to themselves and their surrounding environment.

What do we mean by sensory field? Its the area around the drone where it can “feel” the presence of those hand-mounted sensors, represented by the grey and red spheres in the figure below. Initially, the drone has no spheres and therefore cannot respond at all to the user’s movement. But by holding the hands still for a few seconds the user can create a spherical space, relative to the drone where the drone can sense their hands and follow them.

These spheres are “part of the drone’s body”, and so they move with the drone. So in a way you are kind of deciding where the drone can “feel” whilst also piloting it. Should it be sensitive in the space immediately in front of it? Or either side of it?

But shouldn’t it just be everywhere?

Good question! We think the answer is no, and for two reasons:

  1. What we can and cannot sense as humans is what makes us human. It also allows us to understand other humans. E.g. We don’t deliver verbal information directly into other people’s ears at max volume because we have ears and we know that sucks. Nor do we demonstrate how to perform a task to someone with their back turned to us. So by the same token, knowing how a machine senses the world also teaches us how to communicate with it. Furthermore, shaping how a machine can sense the world allows us to creatively explore what we can do with it.
  2. To quote science writer Ed Yong, “Nothing can sense everything and nothing needs to”. Meaning we can get the job done without having to ingest insane amounts of data and even more insane amounts of compute. By cumulatively building an agent’s capacity, in context, with end users, we could actually end up with agents that are hyper specialised and resource efficient. A big plus for resource constrained systems like the Crazyflie and our planet at large.

If you are interested in reading more about this research then please check out this paper (if you like to read) or this pictorial (if you like to look at pictures). Or just reach out in the comments below!

RIG and other adventures

  2025-03-10  |     |    Leave a comment

This week in Germany

This week, some of us are on an adventure!
Marcus and Tobias will be exploring both the RIG and Embedded World fairs.

RIG showcases the latest innovations in robotics and intelligent systems, while Embedded World is the place to be for cutting-edge embedded technologies. Both events promise amazing demos, insightful talks, and a chance to catch up with some of our collaborators.

Planning to attend either fair? Let’s meet up! We’d love to explore the exhibitions together, chat about cool technologies, or just geek out about the innovations on display. We’ll be wandering through Embedded World on Thursday and hitting RIG on Friday. Send us an email if you’d like to connect – we’re always up for grabbing coffee!

Next May in Atlanta

After our adventures as visitors, we’re thrilled to announce that we’ll be exhibiting at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2025! Stop by our booth where we’ll be showcasing our latest demo. We’ll be, as always, available to discuss our newest products, answer your technical questions, and provide insights into how our solutions can transform your robotics applications. We’re also eager to hear your thoughts on what you’d like to see in our upcoming products. Mark your calendars and make sure to find us at Booth #131 – we may even have some presentations in the work, but nothing confirmed yet.

Today in the shop

And, last but not least, the Brushless is now available in a Swarm configuration! Both the Lighthouse Swarm bundle and Loco Swarm bundle have been added to our shop. These new bundles feature all the same components as our standard Swarm packages, but come equipped with the Crazyflie 2.1 Brushless instead of the Crazyflie 2.1+ model.