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

May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs 3

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”

May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs 4

End Users and Uses

May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs 5

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

May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs 6

General Solution Approach

RN RN RN

May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs 7

Node Design

Processing Unit

Radio

Relay AntennaSoftware

Power SupplyPWM

Timer Parachute

Aerial Antenna

Battery

May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs 8

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

May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs 9

Enclosure

• High-impact lexan– Will not interfere with

RF communications– Will withstand the drop– Inexpensive to

produce

May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs 10

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

May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs 11

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

May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs 12

Processing Platform

Soekris Engineeringnet 4526 single board computer

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

May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs 13

Operating System

Pyramid Linux

•Designed for wireless networking applications

•Support for the Soekris 4526 SBC and Atheros

•Total size: < 64 MB

May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs 14

Radio/Antenna

• Ubiquiti SuperRange 2 MiniPCI radio

• Tx: 400 mW

• IEEE 802.11e

• 5dBi 8.4” Dipole Antenna

May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs 15

Power Supply

• (1) TI TPS51020 PWM step down converter

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

May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs 16

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

Routing TableDestination Next Hop

0 Null Null

Routing TableDestination Next Hop

0 Null Null

Routing TableDestination Next Hop

0 Null Null

Routing TableDestination Next Hop

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

May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs 17

Network Components

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

• Encryption– 128-bit WEP

May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs 19

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)

May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs 20

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?