Development of System to Increase Communication Distance between Drone and Operator

The work

Where it appeared

Abstract

A way to improve communication distance without greatly affecting other significant drone parameters is considered in this work. However, this is quite difficult as in drone parameters are co depended as altering one parameter can invertedly impact the drones’ other characteristics. Which is why the study mainly focused on quantitative research since this allows to objectively estimate how much of an improvement is made and how big are the losses and downsides of implementation. This has given a good estimate on the feasibility of implementation as well as profitability. It was found that by using directional antennas along with antenna tracking directly on the drone the drone’s range of communication could be boosted by about 20% with the tested setup. While for drone network this distance increased is proportional since the communication range is increased between each drone. The major trend found here was that as long as accurate antenna tracking is ensured the overall range of communication can greatly increase. Possibly even going beyond the determined range extension values with antennas featuring more focused signal beam. Additionally, the implementation is mean not to change the current design of drones meaning it could be widely utilized as long as the drone can carry an additional 0.6 kg of payload. While economically an investment of 184€ should be acceptable for applications where extended communication range is required. Additionally, from an economic view it must be taken into account that drones do not need to be redesigned and only minor modifications need to be done in order to allow use of the device discussed in the study.