Design of a launch and forget aerial relay node integrating advanced control and communications methods

公司Ultra Electronics TCS正在开发多任务无线电(MMR)，旨在维护移动(OTM)地面车辆与部署在战术、后勤、机器人、公共安全或灾难恢复任务中的团队之间的宽带互联。然而，所有的OTM通信系统都受到相同的限制：有效射程。为了增加MMR通信能力和改善其市场机会，该项目寻求开发特定的空中平台体系结构和自动导航算法，利用无人机技术提供射程扩展能力，以低成本、易于运输和不需要技术培训的方式支持战术和紧急通信。为了实现这一目标，该项目将分三个阶段进行：第一阶段是空中中继节点设计，其特征是最佳的空中飞行器体系结构方法，以满足Ultra提供的一系列严格且有时相互冲突的要求。第二是控制和通信算法的开发和集成，旨在为天线节点提供射程扩展和自动导航能力。第三阶段是在商业现成的原型上实现开发的控制和导航算法，以便通过实验测试这些算法的性能和局限性。该项目一旦实现，将显著提升Ultra TCS的形象，并帮助他们在竞争中表现出强大的差异化和明显的创新。

The company Ultra Electronics TCS is developing the Multi-Mission Radio (MMR) designed to, among other applications, maintain broadband inter-connectivity between On-The-Move (OTM) ground vehicles and teams deployed in tactical, logistic, robotic, public safety or disaster recovery missions. All OTM communication systems suffer however from the same limitation: effective range.To increase MMR communication capabilities and improve its market chances, this project seeks to develop specific aerial platform architectures and auto-navigation algorithms that leverage UAV technologies to offer range extension capabilities in support of tactical and emergency communications at a low cost, easy to transport, and no needs of technical training. To reach this goal, the project will proceed in three phases: the first is the aerial relay node design which characterizes the best aerial vehicle architectural approach to satisfy a set of stringent and sometimes conflicting requirements provided by Ultra. The second is the developement and integration of control and communication algorithms designed to provide the aerial node with range extension and auto-navigation capabilities. The third phase is the implementation of the developed control and navigation algorithms on a commercial off-the-shelf prototype in order to test experimentally the performance and limitations of these algorithms. The project, once realized, will significantly boost Ultra TCS image and help them show strong differentiation and clear innovation over the competition.