Development of an Instant Relay Communication System via Quadcopter (Drone)

Like airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system, the aim of this research is to design a relay (repeater) communication system on a drone, such as quadcopter (multi-axis aircraft) at certain altitudes to detect ground targets such as vehicles, battle-men at long ranges. The equipped quadcopter plays the relay (repeater) role for two ground vehicles between tall physical obstacles to communicate each other. In addition, remote monitoring and control systems on a flying quadcopter are demonstrated in this paper. The developed relay communication system is able to transmit high quality image through Wi-Fi associated equipment in the manipulator platform with Arduino controller and UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter). An execute instruction via UART in Arduino is issued to control the moving range of the vehicle and to transmit/receive data in broadcast station. Test of relay communication system via quadcopter consists of returning power (dBm), signal strength and image reaction time. Real time monitoring for a leveled flying quadcopter and a ranged of ground vehicle can be precisely achieved by an operator at the remote end.