AMTA Workshop UAV-based Antenna and Field Measurements

Organizers

Giuseppe Virone, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Turin, Italy

Torsten Fritzel, Aeroxess UG, Munich, Germany

Context

The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology can lead to the future quantum leap in outdoor antenna and field measurements.  UAVs are nowadays being exploited as flying source/probe antenna positioners in various innovative in-situ measurements from HF to microwaves. Both near- and far-field strategies are being developed and tested. Far-field flying test sources are being used to characterize both radiotelescopes and oceanographic radars. Broadcast tower verification, propagation measurements and field mapping are instead performed by means of onboard calibrated receiving equipment.

All these topics will be covered in this workshop with particular reference to measurement approach, RF/UAV hardware setup, positioning strategies and the corresponding accuracy. The six contributions will provide a complete perspective on this pioneering measurement solution i.e. both the state-of-the-art and the way forward. The interaction between the speakers and the audience will be deeply encouraged.

Programme

1. State-of-the-art on “UAV-based Antenna and Field-Measurements” and Recent Results in the Far-Field regime
2. Challenges of UAV-based Near-Field Antenna Measurements to obtain High-Performance Results
3. Fast Irregular Antenna Field Transformation Algorithm for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Near-Field Measurements

Break

1. Measurement of Near-Field Variability and the 3-D structure of Antenna Patterns of Oceanographic Radars using Small Aerial Drones
2. Unmanned Aerial System for Antenna Measurement (UASAM): onboard power detector, phase retrieval technique and NF-FF transformation
3. UAV-Based Measurements with a Channel Sounder at 16 GHz

Concluding remarks by the organizers and moderated discussion

Speakers

Giuseppe Virone, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Turin, Italy
Torsten Fritzel, Aeroxess UG, Munich, Germany
Josef Knapp, Technical University of Munich, Germany
Libe Washburn, University of California, United States
María García Fernández, University of Oviedo, Gijón, Spain
Robert Geise, Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany