Swarm robotics, from the lab to the park
A team of passionate engineers taking swarms from first prototype to industrial system: in the air, on the water, on the ground, and soon on two legs.
What is xLabs
xLabs is first of all a team of passionate robotics engineers. We are swarm specialists: hundreds of autonomous machines moving as one, safely, in front of an audience. Aerial drones (UAV) were our first stage; unmanned surface vessels (USV), ground robots (UGV) and humanoid robots now join the same choreography, driven by the same brain.
We do not stop at prototypes. Equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, real-world flight data and 40,000+ flights of experience, xLabs works with partners and clients to challenge today's limitations, prototype fast, and turn what works into certified, industrial systems that run every day in parks and events.
40,000+
robot flights to date, in shows and in the lab
4
robot families in the swarm: UAV, USV, UGV, humanoid
2
labs: Bordeaux (France) and Orlando (USA)
Research axes
Controlling a robot swarm with your hands, your body or your voice. No console, no joystick: the machines follow the performer.
See the demo
Hundreds of robots in the air, on the water and on the ground, reacting live to a crowd, a stage or a score. Scale without losing responsiveness or safety.
See the demo
Turning a working prototype into a certified system that performs every day of the year in a theme park: reliability, maintenance, safety envelopes.
See the demo3D and virtual production
Every show and every new robot starts as a digital twin. Our 3D production chain takes a creative idea through modelling, choreography, physics simulation and virtual rehearsal, so that by the time hardware touches the ground, the water or the sky, the show has already been flown hundreds of times on screen. The same pipeline lets a client walk through their show in 3D months before the premiere.
Interactive 3D show viewer
Real-time WebGL rendering of a full drone show, with sound.
▶ Launch the 3D experienceBest experienced on a desktop computer. Open the viewer in a new tab.
Use case
Aquatic robots gliding on Adventure Bay at Disneyland Paris, in sync with the aerial swarm, every night of the year. From the first prototype to the industrial system: the full story of how xLabs designed the Ducks.
Read the use caseVideo gallery
A performer conducts hundreds of robots with his hands. Filmed at the Dronisos test field.
Imagine controlling a robot swarm with just your hands or gestures.
Jean-Dominique Lauwereins and Charlie Pantel on xLabs.
Large-scale interactive swarm management, live on TV.
A team of passionate engineers
Aerospace, embedded software, computer vision, mechanics, artistic direction: the xLabs team mixes disciplines and loves hard problems. Give us a robot that flies, floats, rolls or walks and we will make it dance with five hundred others, then engineer it into a system that runs reliably, night after night. The next step is already on the bench: humanoid robots sharing the stage with the swarm.
UAV
Aerial drones, our origin: 500-drone shows, indoor and outdoor, gesture-controlled.
USV
Unmanned surface vessels: light and motion on lakes, harbours and pools.
UGV
Ground robots: rolling formations on stages, arenas and streets.
Humanoid
Humanoid robots: the swarm's next performers, already under test.
Head of xLabs
Head of Innovation
Engineers in aerial, marine, ground and humanoid robotics
Work with xLabs
Partners, parks and researchers: tell us what you want to try. We will prototype it with you, and take it all the way to an industrial system.