Swarm-GPT: Combining Large Language Models with Safe Motion Planning for Robot Choreography Design

This paper presents Swarm-GPT, a system that integrates large language models (LLMs) with safe swarm motion planning-- offering an automated and novel approach to deployable drone swarm choreography. Swarm-GPT enables users to automatically generate synchronized drone performances through natural language instructions. With an emphasis on safety and creativity, Swarm-GPT addresses a critical gap in the field of drone choreography by integrating the creative power of generative models with the effectiveness and safety of model-based planning algorithms. This goal is achieved by prompting the LLM to generate a unique set of waypoints based on extracted audio data. A trajectory planner processes these waypoints to guarantee collision-free and feasible motion. Results can be viewed in simulation prior to execution and modified through dynamic re-prompting. Sim-to-real transfer experiments demonstrate Swarm-GPT's ability to accurately replicate simulated drone trajectories, with a mean sim-to-real root mean square error (RMSE) of 28.7 mm. To date, Swarm-GPT has been successfully showcased at three live events, exemplifying safe real-world deployment of pre-trained models.