Drone Based Telemetry Transceiver for Low Altitude Target Tracking

Low-altitude cruise flights have become increasingly important in recent and futuristic warfare. However, the technology does not permit the capture of low-altitude cruise flights by conventional telemetry systems due to limits imposed by line-of sight (LoS) and ground reflections. In this paper, we propose the design and development of light weight telemetry transceiver system mounted on drone to overcome line of sight limitation. In the proposed design size, weight and power (SWaP) limits are optimized in addition to making it airworthy and operational in the specified ambient conditions. The proposed approach consists of drone, capable of carrying 8kg of payload, flight segment and ground segment system. The endurance of drone is about 30 minutes with full payload condition. Telemetry data reception till 5Mbps up to 5 m altitude has been demonstrated using the proposed method. The design is implemented, tested successfully for various test cases and results are discussed and compared with conventional telemetry system. The weight and power consumption of the entire flight segment is less than 5 kg and 150 W respectively. The system is realized using NI LabView, commercial SDR hardware and custom-designed antennas.