Wireless system enables UAVs to communicate with operators

The wireless communication system is designed to allow a UAV to securely send video footage and other information to its ground-based operator at the highest possible speed, even when it is out of direct range.

It is the latest technology to emerge from the aerospace industry’s Autonomous Systems Technology Related Airborne Evaluation & Assessment (ASTRAEA) programme, alongside a device for sensing and avoiding vehicles in commercial airspace that is also undergoing testing.

‘If you have critical, time-sensitive data, there’s no point having it locked on the aircraft. You have to have a mechanism to get it to its intended end user,’ said project manager David Rees from defence company Cassidian, speaking at the ASTRAEA national conference on 7 September 2011.

‘We are capable, with the solution we’re developing, of utilising the best media for the data type, importance and urgency,’ he added.

The system can also use existing communications infrastructure and satellite communications, according to Rees. ‘We don’t have to have a simple end-to-end delivery from A to B. It could go over a number of bearers with different capabilities.’