Developing a custom communication protocol for UAVs: Ground control station and architecture design

Abstract

Robots have become a prominent research topic across various application domains in recent decades. Additionally, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are extensively used in both the military and commercial sectors, substantially reducing transaction costs and enhancing safety. Researchers have addressed secure control and communication protocols between software, firmware, and hardware components. This study focuses on the design of three critical elements: the hardware architecture, the software ground control station (GCS), and the firmware tasks within the UAV embedded system. These components are interconnected via an enhanced MAVLink protocol (EMP). Furthermore, various sensors are integrated into the UAV's peripheral devices. We discuss flight control (FC) approaches, such as proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control and the Kalman filter (KF), detailing the process of the hovering algorithm. Additionally, we explain how access is messaged and how message commands are implemented at the protocol layer. We propose a large-scale UAV system architecture suitable for commercial and military applications, supported by a real-life scenario. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the UAV in outdoor activities. Our findings confirm that the proposed UAV architecture is a robust and efficient system in practical applications.