Ultra-wide band Real time Location Systems: Practical implementation and UAV performance evaluation

Abstract

Several different methods can be used to determine the 3-dimensional position of an object. A common solution is use of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). However, for some operation the specific characteristics of GNSS can be challenging, e.g. time-to-fix on GPS RTK or unavailability of GNSS signals. When considering operations within limited range (a few hundreds of meters) another solution based on Ultra-wideband Real Time Location Systems (UWB RTLS). In this paper authors have tested a set-up of a tag and five anchors in order to determine if such solution can be used in local operations of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (e.g. landing). Experimental data are analyzed and compared against GPS RTK measurements.