1. Air Dropped Communications Relay System for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles SENIOR DESIGN MAY07-05

2. May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs2 Team Information Client: Mr. Todd Colten Lockheed Martin Advisor: Dr. Ahmed Kamal Professor, ISU Team: John Chargo CprE Andrew Hanrath EE Jonathan Hoback EE Matthew Pross EE

3. May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs3 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”

4. May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs4 End Users and Uses

5. May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs5 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

6. May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs6 General Solution Approach

7. May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs7 Node Design

8. May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs8 Node Lifecycle Four main stages in each node’s life:

9. May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs9 Enclosure High-impact lexan –Will not interfere with RF communications –Will withstand the drop –Inexpensive to produce

10. May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs10 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

11. May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs11 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 CO 2

12. May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs12 Processing Platform Soekris Engineering net 4526 single board computer MiniPCI slots (x2) 133MHz CPU 64 MB SDRAM 64 MB CompactFlash Small form-factor

13. May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs13 Operating System Pyramid Linux Designed for wireless networking applications Support for the Soekris 4526 SBC and Atheros Total size: < 64 MB

14. May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs14 Radio/Antenna Ubiquiti SuperRange 2 MiniPCI radio Tx: 400 mW IEEE 802.11e 5dBi 8.4” Dipole Antenna

15. May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs15 Power Supply (1) TI TPS51020 PWM step down converter (6) Tadiran TL5930 lithium-thionyl chloride (Li-SOCl2) batteries to provide 19Ah

16. May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs16 Network Components AODV-based Routing

17. May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs17 Network Components Quality of Service (QoS) –IEEE 802.11e –Provides priority to UAVs Encryption –128-bit WEP

18. May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs18 Testing Unit Tests –Computing Platform –Antenna Support –Radio throughput and sensitivity –Parachute deployment –Enclosure impact Integration Testing Document Testing Final product Testing

19. May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs19 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)

20. May07-05 Air Dropped Communications Relay System for UAVs20 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?