UAV Communication System

Joel Pigdon La Trobe University

Requirements
A bi-directional line of sight data link Secure and Robust Communications Modest Weight and Power requirements Easy interface to the Battery Monitor Reliability

Hardware Design
Simple Switcher Switch-mode power supply Aerocomm AC4790 Radio Modem Module Z8 Encore 6422 Microprocessor HP-03D Digital Pressure Sensor PWM RC model Servos

Power Supplies

Pressure Interface

GPS Interface

Microprocessor

PCB Design
Ground plane design for good EMI handling Two Layer design for Manufacturability Manufactured at Gold Phoenix PCB in
China

8mil minimum clearance, 10mil tracks

Top Layer

Bottom Layer

Power Supplies
Large Ground plane for thermal dissipation High Current paths kept short to reduce EMI

Decoupling Capacitors placed close to components

Star grounding with solid ground plane

Power Supplies

Microcontroller/Logic
Difcult routing around the Serial IO Good ground plane under Z8 for EMI

Custom 2mm Aerocomm socket footprint

Decoupling Capacitors placed close to input pins

GPS Module
Test interface for RS232 communication Short lead for antenna matching loss reduction

1.27mm GPS module footprint

Solid ground plane for signal integrity

Antenna Design

Yagi-Uda 5 Element Directional Antenna Optimised for 28 feedpoint impedance (35 1/4 wave match to 50 feed) Dipole feed Small size 915Mhz centre frequency Gain of 10.39dBi, F/B ratio 35.33

Antenna Design

Quickyagi azimuthal radiation pattern

Antenna Design

Yagimax bandwidth and VSWR plot

Microcontroller Software
Interrupt Driven Low power modes used Robust design Modular design

PC Software
Java for cross compatibility Java for robust error management Multithreaded Google Maps or Static Map Imagery Comprehensive logging

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Hardware Realisation

Base station hardware

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Hardware Realisation

Mobile station

Software Realisation

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Software Realisation

Pressure Sensor Testing

Experimental Setup and Results

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Antenna Testing
Testing carried out using Network Analyser S11 reection coefcient measured Three Baluns constructed
centre frequencies 650, 975 and 915Mhz testing

Antenna performance poor in real world

Results with Balun MK2

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Results with Balun MK3

Power Testing

Current versus transmission power level

15

System Testing

Completion of goals
Robust line of sight communication link with check-summing Security provided through 56 bit DES encryption, and FHSS technologies Software Interrupts and Watchdog Timer as a failsafe Reliable base station software written in Java for compatibility and robust operation Prototype mechanical design Prototype Antenna design, construction and testing

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Future Work
A better ground station antenna Development of a better pan/tilt mechanism Integration into a UAV Further testing

Questions

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