Unmanned Air Systems

About

Description: An integrated phased array radar and signal processing platform for small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) This system is special because, while radars, phased antenna arrays, and signal processing platforms have all been developed in the past, never have all three been developed in a platform available for consumers in a form factor capable of being flown on a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that weighs less than 50 lbs. The core function of this system is to provide the user exact locations (angle and distance) to any target within a specified maximum range. The primary application for this system is for the system to be mounted onboard a UAV. In that case, the targets would be other UAVs in the air or obstacles that the UAV would wish to avoid. Such a system, where a sensor is coupled with a collision avoidance algorithm is referred to as a Sense and Avoid (SAA) or Detect And Avoid (DAA) system. Another possible application would be for the system to be placed on the ground in either a stationary configuration or on a mechanically rotating platform. In this setup, the sensor would provide the user with aerial awareness of any UAV traffic inside a specified distance bubble of a few kilometers in all directions and above it. In this case the targets would be any air traffic with which the UAV might interfere. The system could either provide this data to the UAV DAA system for autonomous operation, or it could provide the data to a UAV pilot to alert the pilot of conflicting air traffic. This mode of operation would provide the pilot with a safe zone of flight where they would be assured that they could operate their UAV without any risk of interfering with other UAVs or commercial manned air traffic.