New Solution for UAV Tracking

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NASA has designed an innovative antenna-mounting platform that meets the needs of the unmanned aircraft market by providing a low-cost, low-power mobile auto-tracking antenna. The patent-pending platform offers continuous rotation of nearly 60 pounds of antennas, transmitters, and receivers along with customized software to automatically track a target such as a UAV, which can be any size aircraft.
NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, recently signed a license agreement for the NASA antenna platform with Mobile Antenna Platform Systems Inc. in Tampa, Florida. Laura Fobel, chief of Armstrong’s technology transfer office: “This technology is the perfect example of a NASA engineer thinking outside of the box to create a solution to a problem that benefits not only NASA, but industry as well. We are looking forward to working with Mobile Antenna Platform Systems Inc. to commercialize this technology”.

According to directionsmag.com, the portable antenna platform uses inexpensive means to track an object or UAV and therefore it’s not expensive itself. Ground-based tracking uses information from a ground-tracking asset such as a radar, which is incredibly expensive. Satellite-based tracking like this mobile antenna platform uses a Global Positioning System. The unique and simple design of the platform eliminates the need for additional load balancing hardware, which allows for more space to add additional antennas and equipment. No counterweights means less mass, which enables the use of smaller, cheaper, and lighter motors to turn all the antennas. The mobile platform also makes it easier for one person to carry it. Another benefit is the use of a one-slip ring assembly, an electromechanical device to transmit power and electrical signals, which are much less expensive than radio frequency rotary joints that now exist on current high-power tracking systems. The slip ring assembly passes power and data, so any frequency radios can be used with this tracking antenna platform without changing any platform hardware.
A much smaller version of this platform may be flown on a plane, which would greatly extend the telemetry link range without requiring more power from the aircraft. Besides tracking UAVs, this platform offers many other applications for university research, marine communication and satellite tracking that transmit multiple frequencies as well as weather balloon tracking.