Centrale Nantes launches a leading experimental platform for collaboration between drones and autonomous vehicles

Following a demonstration of the platform to institutional representatives, researchers, industry representatives and students, the day continued with a series of scientific talks focusing on the platform and the opportunities it offers.

This state-of-the-art facility in France strengthens Centrale Nantes’ position in the field of collaborative autonomous systems, at the intersection of research, experimentation and industrial applications. At a time when autonomous technologies are becoming a major issue in terms of technological sovereignty, mobility and intelligent robotics, PARMATAC thus offers an environment for demonstrating and validating these technologies under real-world conditions.

Funded by the State and the Pays de la Loire Region, the PARMATAC platform—a secure, instrumented outdoor facility—offers researchers and industrial partners a testing ground to analyse how mobile robots perceive their environment, communicate and coordinate their movements.

An inauguration designed as a demonstration of expertise

The inauguration of PARMATAC not only marked the official opening of a new facility, but also served to illustrate, under real-world conditions, Centrale Nantes’ ability to combine high-level research, technological experimentation and industrial applications.

In front of institutional representatives, researchers and business delegates, teams from Centrale Nantes presented several operational demonstrators from the platform: coordination between drones and autonomous vehicles, data sharing, extended perception and collaborative navigation in a secure outdoor environment.

At Centrale Nantes, thanks to PARMATAC, the wall between laboratories and industry is coming down. When I see a student working alongside an engineer from Naval Group, when I see a researcher discussing ideas with Airbus or Manitou, when I see prototypes being tested in real-world conditions on this platform, I think to myself: this is what French innovation should look like. It is precisely to support this momentum that the Region is investing heavily — because we believe in the power of research, the boldness of innovation and your ability to build the future

Christelle Morançais, President of the Pays de la Loire Region

A platform for moving from the laboratory to the field

With PARMATAC, Centrale Nantes has a connected outdoor arena designed to replicate operational scenarios that closely resemble real-world conditions: obstacles, GPS interference, communication outages, variable weather conditions and complex interactions between mobile robots.

The aim is to develop and validate the key technologies for future collaborative autonomous systems: extended perception, collaborative navigation, real-time data exchange and cooperation between aerial and ground platforms.

At the heart of the system, extended perception enables a mobile robot to enhance its understanding of the environment using data from its own sensors, the infrastructure and other robots. This approach paves the way for more robust systems, capable of cooperating effectively in complex environments.

An international scientific signal

The presence of Brendan Englot, Director of the Stevens Institute for Artificial Intelligence and an internationally renowned expert in autonomous navigation, lent the event an international scientific dimension.

His involvement underscores PARMATAC’s ambition: to establish Centrale Nantes within the major international research networks focusing on collaborative autonomous systems, and to develop experimental solutions in close collaboration with industry partners.

With PARMATAC, Centrale Nantes has acquired a world-class experimental facility at the intersection of robotics, artificial intelligence and the autonomous mobility solutions of the future. This platform embodies our ambition: to develop research of the highest calibre, driving major industrial, environmental and societal transformations, whilst remaining closely aligned with the needs of businesses and local communities.

Jean-Baptiste Avrillier, Director of Centrale Nantes

PARMATAC will also contribute to the training of future engineers and researchers in the fields of autonomous robotics, embedded artificial intelligence and multi-system cooperation, with a focus on learning in conditions that closely mirror real-world scenarios.

A tool for research-industry collaborations

PARMATAC aims to support new collaborative projects with academic and industrial partners across a range of sectors: autonomous mobility, mobile robotics, industrial inspection, agriculture, security and monitoring.

This platform serves as a testing ground and validation facility for companies developing autonomous and connected solutions, whilst strengthening Centrale Nantes’ ability to organise research collaborations at national and international level around the autonomous systems of the future.