Can we apply container-based orchestration to fleets of drones, ships, and beyond?
That’s the question StormFleet sets out to explore. In a world increasingly reliant on autonomous systems—whether in logistics, maritime operations, or the skies—coordinating and updating complex fleets remains a monumental challenge.
StormFleet is an open-source experiment aiming to unify the management of “nodes” (think: physical agents like drones, ships, or other movable devices), each running a specialized software abstraction. Above this base layer, users can deploy plugins—modular bits of logic that define agent behavior. In other words, we’re reimagining how large-scale fleet orchestration might look if we borrow the best ideas from cloud-native platforms.
What is StormFleet, Really? Link to heading
A New Take on Fleet Control
StormFleet sees each physical unit—be it a drone, a boat, or a rover—as a node in a container-driven ecosystem. Through containerized workloads, we can dynamically install and manage mission-specific capabilities without manually fiddling with hardware or rewriting code for every new scenario.An Open Experiment
This isn’t a finished product or a guaranteed solution—it’s a journey into unknown territory. Can cloud-native principles reliably handle physical nodes in motion? Can we seamlessly swap or update agent behavior at scale, even in offline edge scenarios? We’re about to find out.A Platform for Innovation
By adopting a plugin-based approach, we’re inviting collaboration and creative strategies from the community. Think custom AI modules for swarm intelligence, specialized marine navigation for ships, or advanced pathfinding for drones. The goal is to build a flexible foundation so these ideas can flourish.
Why Start This Project? Link to heading
Bridging the Gap
Traditional fleet control systems are often rigid, proprietary, and hard to extend. We believe a cloud-native, open-source architecture can lower the barrier to sophisticated orchestration, borrowing from proven container frameworks while adapting to real-world constraints.Gaining Real Insights
If we treat physical fleets like containerized clusters, can we apply the same best practices to real-world, mobile agents? It’s a challenge worth testing.Clean Architecture in Action
StormFleet also aims to showcase how “clean software design” can hold up under the intense demands of distributed, real-time systems. We’ll see if robust architectural principles truly keep complexity under control as the project scales to drones, ships, and beyond.
A Journey, Not a Destination Link to heading
StormFleet is a journey—one that will unfold step by step. I’ll be blogging about each milestone and obstacle as it arises.
Along the way, we’ll confront questions like:
- How do we handle partial network outages if an agent goes temporarily offline?
- How can we unify drone, ship, and ground robot capabilities under one plugin system without overcomplicating hardware differences?
- Which orchestrator model truly fits edge environments best?
- Where does local autonomy end and remote oversight begin—especially if real-time decisions are needed?
- Can we design a universal hardware abstraction flexible enough for both high-powered drones and tiny hobbyist robots?
- What does fallback behavior look like if the orchestrator can’t reach a device for updates or commands?
- How do we balance performance and simplicity, ensuring we don’t require hardware beyond a typical Raspberry Pi?
These challenges aren’t trivial, and we’re not promising an overnight solution. Instead, we aim to build gradually, staying transparent about design decisions, failures, and pivots.
Call for Collaboration Link to heading
Interested in bridging cloud-native tools with physical fleets? Fascinated by edge computing or advanced AI/robotics? If this sparks your interest, I’d love to hear your insights, critiques, or see your contributions.
Open-Source
The ultimate vision is to make StormFleet a community-driven project, where plugin developers can bring specialized knowledge to various fleet types.Transparent Development
Every significant design decision will be documented in blog posts, so you can follow the reasoning—or argue for better alternatives!
Feel free to reach out or keep an eye on upcoming posts if you’d like to be part of this journey.