air dropped communications relay system for unmanned aerial vehicles senior design may07-05

Air Dropped Communications Relay System for Unmanned

Aerial Vehicles

SENIOR DESIGNMAY07-05

May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs 2

Team Information

Client:Mr. Todd Colten Lockheed Martin

Advisor:Dr. Ahmed Kamal Professor, ISU

Team:

John ChargoCprE

Andrew HanrathEE

Jonathan HobackEE

Matthew ProssEE


Problem Statement

“Develop a system of self-contained communications nodes that can be air-dropped from a UAV at an altitude of 500ft. The nodes will then provide ‘network-centric’ IEEE 802.11 communications between ground and aerial vehicles separated by a large geographic area”


End Users and Uses


Functional Requirements

•Provide IEEE 802.11 coverage area of 100 km by 100 m•Drop from a UAV at 500 ft•Efficiently fit nodes in payload bay of UAV •Node should operate continuously for 6 hrs over 48 hrs•Operate within an outside environment•Sensitive data shall be destroyed after operational life•All data on the network shall be secured•Communicate reliably between mobile ground and aerial vehicles


General Solution Approach

RN RN RN


Node Design

Processing Unit

Radio

Relay AntennaSoftware

Power SupplyPWM

Timer Parachute

Aerial Antenna

Battery


Node Lifecycle

Four main stages in each node’s life:

Node Deployed Node Activates Node active

< 1 minute <15 seconds

Node Self-destructs

approx 6 hours


Enclosure

• High-impact lexan– Will not interfere with

RF communications– Will withstand the drop– Inexpensive to

produce


Parachute

•Semi-hemispherical•Ripstop Nylon•2.03 m diameter w/ 3” spill hole•Shoud lines: 3.03 m w/ Nomex shield covers

•Deployment: Model rocket engines (x2)•SBC triggered igniters


Antenna Support Structure

For efficient and reliable communications the antenna must be raised off the ground.

To accomplish this a light-weight support structure will inflate out of each node using CO2


Processing Platform

Soekris Engineeringnet 4526 single board computer

•MiniPCI slots (x2)•133MHz CPU•64 MB SDRAM•64 MB CompactFlash•Small form-factor


Operating System

Pyramid Linux

•Designed for wireless networking applications

•Support for the Soekris 4526 SBC and Atheros

•Total size: < 64 MB

http://pyramid.metrix.net/


Radio/Antenna

• Ubiquiti SuperRange 2 MiniPCI radio

• Tx: 400 mW

• IEEE 802.11e

• 5dBi 8.4” Dipole Antenna


Power Supply

• (1) TI TPS51020 PWM step down converter

• (6) Tadiran TL5930 lithium-thionyl chloride (Li-SOCl2) batteries to provide 19Ah


Network Components

• AODV-based Routing

FN10.1.0.1

RN10.0.0.1

RN10.0.0.2

RN10.0.0.3

FN10.1.0.2

1 RREQ [Dest: 10.1.0.2]

2 RREQ 3 RREQ

4 RREQ

5 RREP

6 RREP7 RREP

8 RREP

Routing TableDestination Next Hop

0 Null Null8 10.1.0.2 10.0.0.1


0 Null Null


0 Null Null


0 Null Null


0 Null Null

1 10.1.0.1 0.0.0.07 10.1.0.2 10.0.0.2

2 10.1.0.1 10.0.0.16 10.1.0.2 10.0.0.3

3 10.1.0.1 10.0.0.25 10.1.0.2 0.0.0.0

4 10.1.0.1 10.0.0.3


Network Components

• Quality of Service (QoS)– IEEE 802.11e– Provides priority to UAVs

• Encryption– 128-bit WEP


Overall System

300m between nodes/100km = 334 nodes in system

Each node: 10”x10”x3”, 6lbs = 8 nodes per UAV

= 42 UAVs to deploy 100km system

Cost per Node: $460

$460/node * 334nodes = $153,640

$1,531/km of coverage ($2,470/mi)


Summary

• Lexan enclosure• Semi-hemispherical Nylon parachute• Inflatable antenna support structure• SBC with Pyramid Linux• 400 mW Radio with 5 dBi Antennas• PWM, Lithium battery, power supply• AODV-based routing, 802.11e, WEP

• Any Questions?

air dropped communications relay system for unmanned aerial vehicles senior design may07-05

Documents

communications relay

reliable communications

nodes life

uavsnode designmay07

aerial vehiclesmay07

ftefficiently fit nodes

mobile ground

payload bay of uav node