The elaborate operation could build upon findings from Southampton research to evaluate larger and more efficient fleets of AI-driven robot swarms.

“It would be an incredibly complex coordination task to have all these different types of drones,” Gopal says. “Santa will need to be able to check they are putting the right gifts in the right stockings and be able to intervene if the drones find it difficult to distinguish which is required.

“Then you have the issue of safety; we don't want the drones to crash into chimneys or hurt any animals. He'll need to ensure they have a collision avoidance system in place.”