Electronic Communication System for On Board Data Telemetry to Ground.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
To make a telemetry system for a UAV, measure and transmit certain parameters such as air pressure, altitude, temperature, differential pressure, airspeed, global positioning data by GPS and wireless transmission of all the data to Ground Control Station which are displayed on a Graphical User Interface (GUI). Bixler2, a small Radio-Controlled plane has been used as a test bed.

BLOCK DIAGRAM

Electronics Template

TELEMETRY

The term telemetry refers to the automatic transmission and measurement of data from remote sources . to ground control station.

We have used 3DR 915 MHz radio telemetry kit for transferring all the onboard data

3DR kit utilizes the 915MHz frequency band and offers a range of approximately one mile with small Omni antennas, and range of several kilometers with high gain antennas. (100mW) and receiver sensitivity of -117dbm.

It provides a full duplex point to point link with transmit power up to 20dbm

Micro Air Vehicle Link (MAVLink) protocol framing and status reporting. Frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS), highly resistant to narrowband interference. Adaptive time division multiplexing (TDM) (CHECK) and support for LBT and AFA Configurable duty cycle. Support air data rates up to 250 Kbps and configurable duty cycle.

Microcontroller
High performance, low power AVR 8 bit microcontroller is used
for data acquisition, processing and communication with Ground Control Station.

It has seven 10-bit ADC channels, USART, four PWM

channels, three timers and serial peripheral interface.

Up to 16MIPS throughput at 16MHz. 16KB in-system programming flash, 1KB EEPROM and 512
bytes SRAM.

Analog sensors has been interfaced with microcontroller

ADCs and GPS receiver is serially connected.

SENSOR BOARD
Sensor board contains all the necessary sensors and transducers for measuring atmospheric parameters and RC plane altitude and airspeed. Sensors used here includes:

Temperature Sensor
Analog sensor LM35 has been employed for measuring air
temperature, having a range of -55 C to +150 C.

LM35 is a precision integrated circuit with an output directly

proportional linearly proportional to centigrade temperature.

Calibrated directly in Celsius (centigrade), 10mv/C scale

factor.

ABSOLUTE PRESSURE SENSOR

Manifold absolute pressure sensor (MAP) MPX4115 has been
used for measuring absolute pressure.

Calibrated and on chip signal conditioned, having a range of

15 to 115 Kilopascals.

DIFFERENTIAL PRESSURE SENSOR & AIRSPEED

MPX7002DP has been used for measuring differential
pressure.

Pitot static system has been implemented on the RC

plane(UAV) for measuring airspeed.

GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS)

Global positioning System (GPS) receiver is used for absolute position of the RC plane, providing coordinates such as latitude, longitude and time with path tracks.

Ground Control Station (GCS)

GCS consists of a laptop with a wireless communication
modem.

Laptop runs a windows based Graphical User interface(GUI)

developed in house for displaying all the flight information in real time.

Radio modem ground module receives all the parameters and

displays it on the GUI panel.

Graphical User Interface

Benefits of the Project

Telemetry system finds many real world applications with its vast benefits in many fields. We have devised a telemetry system in a UAV with low cost sensor board for automatic transmission of real time data to our ground unit. The telemetry system is useful for real time data transmission over long distances and less noise affect and bidirectional communication. It is used widely in UAVs for its monitoring and controlling through ground unit. Following are the key benefits:

Wireless data transmission over long distances. Bi directional communication between the UAV and ground station. Monitoring of the UAV from portable ground unit.

High precision low cost sensor board for measuring atmospheric and aircraft parameters.

Applications in different fields

Oil and Gas industries

Space science
Motor Racing Agriculture Water management Military Intelligence Energy monitoring Bio and neuro telemetry (Medicine/Healthcare)

And the research continues

To turn our sensor board into an autopilot board!!!

To convert an RC plane into an Autonomous UAV

Basic difference between an RC plane and an unmanned aerial vehicle is that unlike a RC plane, UAV can perform autonomous operation and navigation with automatic take off and landing. With design of a sensor board and a low cost telemetry system for transferring the remote data to ground control station, an idea we have in mind which we going to implement in future is to convert the RC plane into an autonomous Unmanned aerial vehicle, by designing an autopilot board and merging it with our sensor board. Many autopilot boards are available but with high cost and some limitations. Designing a low cost autopilot board will remove any limitations and help us to fuel this research and to promote this technology in Pakistan.

THANK YOU!

Participation of Team DUET in All Pakistan Project Exhibition at Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology (GIKI)

We are thankful for your support and the confidence you showed on us.

Vice Chancellor DUET Dr. Faizullah Abbasi. Chairman Dept. of Electronic Engineering Prof. Rashid Baig. Supervisor Sir Sohail Rana.
We are looking forward to avail more opportunities and to represent DUET at the major events.