Mehmood, Muhammad Owais (SDU), Midtiby, Henrik Skov (University of Southern Denmark), Trifon, Diana (QuadSAT), Hasan, Agus (Norwegian University of Science and Technology)

Autonomous Drone-Based Antenna Radiation Pattern Characterization

Scheduled for presentation during the Regular Session "UAS Designs and Technologies" (WeA5), Wednesday, June 22, 2022, 11:10−11:30, Elafiti

2022 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS), June 21-24, 2022, Dubrovnik, Croatia

This information is tentative and subject to change. Compiled on April 19, 2024

Abstract

This paper presents an automated workflow for antenna radiation pattern characterization based on an autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) or drone. To this end, first a radio frequency payload is fitted in a gimbal and mounted on the UAV to simulate signals received by an Antenna Under Test (AUT) from satellites. Afterward, a spectrum analyzer is connected to the antenna system and records the strength of the signals. The data are then used to find antenna's main beam location and radiation pattern characterization based on Bayesian optimization for real-time path planning. Our proposed approach accelerates localization of important features in antenna testing, such as radiation pattern can be identified without the need of post-processing. Furthermore, the process of scanning can be done in shorter distance, thereby, saving drone batteries.