Clover Technologies winner of the first EDA Defence Innovation Prize
by Clover Technologies S.L.
Posted on October 24, 2018
Clover Technologies won the prize in the category "Integration of multi-robot swarming concepts in support of future defence capabilities in the area of GNC" with an idea based on a blockchain-based solution to provide a common platform for swarm nodes with an extra security layer.
Swarm robotics is an emerging technology present in the Future Operational Environment of almost every European nation. However, before it can be implemented in real scenarios, the challenges still pending related to swarm robotics – i.e. computational and storage limitations, heterogeneous communication protocols, information security, etc. – must be solved.
Our project aims to provide a solution to some of these challenges with a blockchain-based platform. The designed solution includes additional layers of security that provide integrity, confidentiality and authentication. Moreover, it supports the automatic implementation of several steps and improves swarm command and control traceability
Our proposed solution has three main elements:
- A blockchain platform which allows a secure coordination of a swarm robotic.
- A so-called Group Key Distribution Algorithm which securely allows the management of the joining & leaving operations within a swarm robotic.
- A Java Card technology which offers a tamper resistant solution for storage and management of the sensitive information in a robot.
As previously stated, our main goal is to offer a common platform for the secure coordination and exchange of information between the nodes which are part of a swarm robotic. Therefore, robot manufacturers in the defence industry will need access to this platform. Consequently, we are going to work on an application programming interface (API) which will allow the manufacturers to use its capabilities in a simple way.