Abstract
In this paper, we construct a new type of mobile wireless data sinking platform for data collection based on unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology, which aims to address the increasing demand for wireless sensor network (WSN) distribution in different monitoring areas and enlarge the coverage for various application scenarios. A wireless environmental monitoring system is firstly studied, and then wireless communication capacity and data collection experiments are performed. The communication capacity test results show that when the RF modules operate with a transmission power above 1 dBm and a communication distance below 100 m, the UAV wireless sink node can maintain a high quality communication data link. Additionally, an outdoor data collection experiment is performed using this UAV platform within a mountainous area. In this outdoor experiment, the data analysis results show that the validity rate of the environmental data that is obtained from the WSN cluster head node on the ground is higher than 92%, and most of the missing data results from WSN communication failures. This experiment proves the feasibility of introducing UAV as a sink node in a clustering WSN. The overall contributions of this paper can provide guidance for building a UAV cooperative WSN system in future.
Highlights
Due to advantages of having no wiring, a flexible topology and a low cost, wireless sensor network (WSN) has been applied to a wide range of fields including environmental monitoring, intelligent transportation, agricultural situation acquisition, and animal tracking and positioning [1,2,3]
1, 4.5 establish effective communication with the ground when the received signal strength index (RSSI) is greater than -90 dBm and the packet loss rate (PLR) is less than 20%
The onboard flight control system (APM) 2.5 and the WSN data acquisition subsystem are launched, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is flying along its designated route while constantly attempting to contact the ground WSN nodes at the same time
Summary
An outdoor data collection experiment is performed using this UAV platform within a mountainous area. In this outdoor experiment, the data analysis results show that the validity rate of the environmental data that is obtained from the WSN cluster head node on the ground is higher than 92%, and most of the missing data results from WSN communication failures. The data analysis results show that the validity rate of the environmental data that is obtained from the WSN cluster head node on the ground is higher than 92%, and most of the missing data results from WSN communication failures This experiment proves the feasibility of introducing UAV as a sink node in a clustering WSN.
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