Scalable Hardware in the Loop (HIL) System for Real-Time Swarm Drone Control Simulation

This paper presents the design of a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) system for the realistic simulation of drone swarm control. The system integrates physical control modules with SITL (Software-in-the-Loop) simulation, enabling communication identical to that in actual drones. The effectiveness and scalability of the system have been confirmed by experiments conducted on six drones. The detailed architecture of the system is described, along with simulation results that demonstrate a high level of accuracy in replicating actual drone behavior. The system has broad applications in research on autonomous drone systems and practical industrial applications.