Lakeside Labs has been nominated for the Carinthian Innovation and Research Award 2026 in the category Research Institution with the project ROAM – Robot Operation and Autonomous Missions Framework.
ROAM is a software framework for the simulation, testing and operation of autonomous multi-robot systems. It addresses a key challenge in swarm robotics: how to move from individual algorithms and lab-based simulations to reliable testing with real robots in realistic environments.
The framework brings together mission logic, decentralised coordination, communication and hardware integration within one ROS 2-based architecture. This allows researchers to develop and compare swarm robotics approaches under practical conditions, including changing connectivity, limited bandwidth and the need to resolve conflicts between autonomous units.
ROAM was developed to support recurring drone and multi-robot research at Lakeside Labs and has already been validated in simulations and field demonstrations with several aerial and ground robots. A key strength of ROAM is its end-to-end approach: researchers can move from simulation to hardware-based testing and field demonstrations within the same framework, making complex multi-robot experiments more structured, repeatable and realistic.
The framework is continuously adapted and improved through ongoing research projects, including current work in traffic control and agriculture. These projects help refine ROAM under practical conditions and extend its use in different multi-robot research scenarios.
With this nomination, Lakeside Labs’ work on ROAM receives recognition as a practical step towards scalable robot swarms. It highlights Lakeside Labs’ role in developing practical research tools that make complex multi-robot systems easier to test, compare and further develop.