Nattke, M.; Just, A.; Simon, S.; Näser, P. (2026). Vehicle categories, approval pathways and need for action in rural areas. Talk, mFUND network meeting, German Museum of Technology, Berlin, 5 November 2026. Project Lieferroboter-3L, BTU Cottbus–Senftenberg.
Matthias Nattke – Computer Science.
Drones.
Lusatia.
I'm Matthias Nattke, a computer scientist and research associate at BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg. My research focuses on autonomous drones and drone swarms – from hardware and flight control to mission planning and onboard data analysis. From 2020 to 2026, I led the work package UPWARDS at the Innovation Campus Electronics and Microsensor Technology Cottbus together with Fraunhofer IZM and IHP. Today, my work includes exploring how delivery robots and drones can serve rural areas in Lusatia – both technically and from a regulatory perspective.
Talks
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Legal Framework for Autonomous Delivery Robots on the Last Mile
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Drones in Computer Science
Nattke, M. (2026). INFORMATIK 2026 – Informatik Festival, Workshop of the GI Junior Fellows, TU Dresden, September 2026. Talk.
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Manned and Unmanned Aviation – Innovations and Trends
Nattke, M. (2026). Networking event of the Cottbus Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) for the opening of the Cottbus/Neuhausen airfield, 21 May 2026. Talk.
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The Drone as a Flying Robot – How Our World Is Measured
Nattke, M. (2025). Children's University of BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, 10 and 11 December 2025. Lecture.
Publications
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Planning and Execution of Autonomous Drone Swarm Missions (Planung und Durchführung von Missionen autonomer Drohnen im Schwarm)
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Potentials and challenges of unmanned aerial vehicle–based transport for the time-critical delivery of positron emission tomography radiopharmaceuticals in nuclear medicine
Varlamova, O.; Bredow, J.; Nattke, M.; Brenner, W.; Frentzel, K.; Starke, M. (2026). Nuklearmedizin – NuclearMedicine. Thieme.
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Electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Poland and the European Union
Gąsiorek-Kowalewicz, A.; Wasilewski, W.; Worach, K.; Nattke, M. (2025). Scientific Papers of Silesian University of Technology, Organization and Management Series, 229, pp. 121–146.
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Cloud Meta-services: An Ontological Contribution
Makhlouf, R.; Wasilewski, W.; Nattke, M. (2025). In: Themistocleous, M.; Bakas, N.; Kokosalakis, G.; Papadaki, M. (eds.): Information Systems. EMCIS 2024, Part II. LNBIP, vol. 536. Springer, Cham, pp. 195–207.
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Flying Sensor Networks in a Drone Swarm (Fliegende Sensornetze im Drohnenschwarm)
Nattke, M. (2025). In: Staemmler, J. (ed.): 99 Zukunftsobjekte aus der Lausitz. Ch. Links Verlag. ISBN 978-3-96289-228-9.
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Precise sensors for localization in the drone swarm
Drone swarms Research Article Collision avoidance Localization Microelectronics Precision agriculture Sensor networks PublishedNattke, M.; Rotta, R.; Natarov, R.; Archila, O.; Mykytyn, P. (2024). Proceedings iCCC2024 – iCampµs Cottbus Conference, pp. 166–169.
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A Modular Communication Architecture for Adaptive UAV Swarms
Drone swarms Real-time capability Research Article Communication networks Microelectronics Published Distributed systemsShahin, K.; Rotta, R.; Archila, O.; Mykytyn, P.; Nattke, M.; Reichenbach, M.; Nolte, J.; Natarov, R. (2023). 2023 IEEE International Conference on Omni-layer Intelligent Systems (COINS). IEEE, pp. 1–6.
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More Efficient Land Use in Agriculture with Networked Drones (Effizientere Flächennutzung in der Landwirtschaft mit vernetzten Drohnen)
Drone swarms Research Article Remote sensing Lusatia Precision agriculture Sensor networks PublishedNattke, M. (2021). INFORMATIK 2021. Lecture Notes in Informatics. Gesellschaft für Informatik, Bonn, pp. 389–400.
CV
Research interests: Microelectronics, Real-time capability, Reliable distributed and cyber-physical systems, Sensor networks; Autonomous flight systems, Cooperation in drone swarms, Communication networks, Localization, Collision avoidance, Mission planning; Onboard data analysis and machine learning, Image recognition, Remote sensing, Simulation, VR/AR; Precision agriculture, Logistics, Healthcare, Regulation, Science communication.
Academic Positions
since 2024
Research Associate, Chair of Factory Planning and Factory Operation, BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg
- Project Lieferroboter-3L (Federal Ministry of Transport, with TU Bergakademie Freiberg)
- Design and teaching of the module “Drone Flight and Digitalisation”
since 2023
Co-founder of SCI_DRONIX, a community of practice for drones at BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg with monthly open network meetings
2020 – 2026
Head of the work package UPWARDS (drone swarm flight) in the BMBF joint project Innovation Campus Electronics and Microsensor Technology Cottbus (iCampus); until 2024 at the Chair of Industrial Information Technology, BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg
- Team of seven international doctoral researchers and three postdocs
- Platform for networked swarm flight: PCB design, flight controller and ground station software, test flights
- Automated test course for drone swarms in a 5G campus network
- Collaboration with Fraunhofer IZM and IHP
Education
2021 – 2024
Doctorate (Dr.-Ing.), BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Energy Systems
Dissertation: “Planning and Execution of Autonomous Drone Swarm Missions (Planung und Durchführung von Missionen autonomer Drohnen im Schwarm)” (Springer Nature, 2025, Open Access)
2023
EUNICE Contamination Lab, University of Catania, Italy
European doctoral exchange with a summer school, in the start-up team “Hawk”
2015 – 2019
M.Sc. Information and Media Technology, BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg
Thesis: “Time-sensitive Networking im SDN”
2016 – 2017
Erasmus study abroad, Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden
2011 – 2015
B.Sc. Information and Media Technology, BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg
Thesis: “Open Government Data”
Professional Experience
2017 – 2019
BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, Information, Communication and Media Centre (IKMZ)
Development and operation of the BTU Campus App for iOS
2017 – 2018
Vodafone, Innovation Garage (Integration & Validation), Düsseldorf
Virtual open-source 5G core network; teleoperated driving; presentation at the Mobile World Congress 2018
2013 – 2016
BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, Chair of Programming Languages and Compiler Construction
Creation of e-learning material and teaching support
Awards & Committees
2026
GI Junior Fellow, Gesellschaft für Informatik e. V.
2026
Runner-up Teaching Award 2025, BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, for the module “Drone Flight and Digitalisation”
since 2025
Steering Committee BVLOS Area Lausitz, an Advanced Air Mobility area with LBA-approved beyond-visual-line-of-sight operations