Real-time localization of transmission sources using a formation of micro aerial vehicles

Abstract

Techniques designed for using teams of small and therefore safe Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) for realization of antenna-like sensing devices with flexible shape, which may be adaptively changed based on the currently sensed properties of the scanned medium, are presented in this paper. This approach enables using simple and cheap sensors carried onboard of MAVs and cooperatively deploying them in the environment to optimize overall sensitivity of the compound sensory array. Two case studies of a deployment of MAV teams in the application of real-time radio transmitters localization are discussed as an example. The first method relies on Kalman Filter-based fusion of distributed RSSI measurements used to estimate distances between the transmitter and multiple receivers, which results in precise, robust and fast transmitters location in the environment. The second method utilizes onboard rotating directional antennas to estimate angles between transmitters and receivers at different positions and a Weighted Robust Least Squares method to determine transmitters locations. Both algorithms were verified in a realistic simulation system under Gazebo simulator in ROS and in real experiments with a fleet of MAVs, with a focus on aspects of real-time information fusion and coordination of MAVs sharing the same workspace with small mutual distances.