DEVELOPMENT OF GROUND CONTROL STATION SOFTWARE FOR UAV

The evolution of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) has revolutionized multiple domains including defense,agriculture, disaster management, and surveillance. To operate UAVs effectively, Ground Control Station(GCS) software serves as a critical interface that facilitates real-time monitoring, control, and datavisualization. This paper presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of a modular Ground ControlStation (GCS) software for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), developed using the Qt framework and C++.The system integrates a UAV simulator with TCP-based communication to enable real-time telemetryvisualization, image transmission, and video streaming. Key features include a graphical user interface (GUI)for displaying telemetry data, Google Maps-based UAV tracking, and efficient multimedia processing.Performance evaluations demonstrate lowlatency telemetry updates (50–100 ms), rapid image decoding (30–50 ms), and stable video playback (30 FPS) with minimal resource usage (60–80 MB RAM, 12–18% CPU).The modular architecture facilitates future enhancements, such as multi-UAV control, live video streaming,and AI-driven analytics. This work provides a lightweight, customizable GCS solution tailored for academic,research, and prototyping applications, contributing to improved UAV operational efficiency, safety, andaccessibility in aerospace engineering. Keywords: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, Ground Control Station,Telemetry, Realtime Monitoring, Qt Framework, TCP Communication, Google Maps Integration, C++Programming, Graphical User Interface, Multimedia Processing.