DOI
https://doi.org/10.25772/YN7W-5597
Defense Date
2013
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Engineering
First Advisor
Robert Klenke
Abstract
The purpose of this research was to develop a mobile ad-hoc network for collaborative Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) based on a mesh networking standard called IEEE 802.11s. A low-cost, small form-factor, IEEE 802.11a based wireless modem was selected and integrated with the existing flight control system developed at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) UAV Laboratory. A self-configurable user-space application on the wireless modem was developed to provide functionality to collaborative algorithms, and to monitor the performance of the wireless network. The RAMS simulator, developed at VCU, was upgraded to support the simulation of advanced networking capabilities by integrating with a simulator called ns-3. The reconfigurability and performance of the IEEE 802.11s mesh network was validated and evaluated by conducting real-world flights. The results show that the IEEE 802.11s is a promising solution for collaborative UAV applications.
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
July 2013