High-Resolution Image Transmission from UAV to Ground Station for Search and Rescue Missions Planning
1
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia
2
Statim D.O.O., 21000 Split, Croatia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Emanuel Guariglia
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(5), 2105; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11052105
Received: 15 December 2020
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Revised: 20 February 2021
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Accepted: 23 February 2021
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Published: 27 February 2021
Search and rescue (SAR) missions comprise search for, and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. Providing the best possible input for the planners and search teams, up-to-date information about the terrain is of essential importance because every additional hour needed to search a person decreases probability of success. Therefore, availability of aerial images and updated terrain maps as a basis for planning and monitoring SAR missions in real-time is very important for rescuers. In this paper, we present a system for transmission of high-resolution images from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to the ground station (GS). We define and calculate data rate and transmission distance requirements between the UAV and GS in a mission scenario. Five tests were designed and carried out to confirm the viability of the proposed system architecture and modules. Test results present throughput measurements for various UAV and GS distances, antenna heights and UAV antenna yaw angles. Experimental results from the series of conducted outdoor tests show that the proposed solution using two pMDDL2450 datalinks at 2.4 GHz and a directional antenna on the receiving side can be used for a real-time transmission of high-resolution images acquired with a camera on a UAV. Achieved throughput at a UAV-GS distance of 5 km was 1.4 MB/s (11.2 Mbps). The limitations and possible improvements of the proposed system as well as future work are also discussed.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Papić, V.; Šolić, P.; Milan, A.; Gotovac, S.; Polić, M. High-Resolution Image Transmission from UAV to Ground Station for Search and Rescue Missions Planning. Appl. Sci. 2021, 11, 2105. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11052105
AMA Style
Papić V, Šolić P, Milan A, Gotovac S, Polić M. High-Resolution Image Transmission from UAV to Ground Station for Search and Rescue Missions Planning. Applied Sciences. 2021; 11(5):2105. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11052105
Chicago/Turabian StylePapić, Vladan, Petar Šolić, Ante Milan, Sven Gotovac, and Miljenko Polić. 2021. "High-Resolution Image Transmission from UAV to Ground Station for Search and Rescue Missions Planning" Applied Sciences 11, no. 5: 2105. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11052105
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