An increase in drones flying in the low airspace of populated areas may increase the chance of collisions if the drones are not tracked properly.
However, BYU engineering professors and graduate researchers may have a solution — a small, low-cost radar system.
These radars can accurately detect the positions of any objects moving in an identified airspace below 400 feet, which has previously been difficult to accomplish using traditional radar systems, according to BYU News.
“This is a system that can give you information and accountability, and kind of provide awareness so that you can do things more safely when you fly,” Cammy Peterson, researcher and associate professor in BYU’s Electrical and Computer Engineering department, said.
According to BYU News, the drone tracking system works by using several computers on the ground connected to radar units around the area and pointed towards the airspace, allowing them to track any moving objects. The radar units then record the positions of each object, and the information is communicated to other stations on the ground to map a full view of all objects in that airspace.
Peterson said this technology will not require larger, more expensive computers at radar sites to track drones effectively.
“Instead of having a $10 million spinning dish like you’d see at an airport, we have a simple thing that could be built for a few hundred dollars,” Karl Warnick, researcher and professor in BYU’s Electrical and Computer Engineering department, said in the BYU News release. “The small radars don’t have all the capabilities of a higher-end radar, but a network of small radars can work together effectively.”
BYU graduate student Brady Anderson said the radar system can detect a moving object’s new position in the airspace within 10 seconds in the BYU News release.
This new radar system technology can be used to benefit larger companies that deliver packages to homes and individuals. Peterson said package delivery may become more economically efficient using drones rather than having drivers.
If larger companies are willing to invest in drone delivery, more drones may end up entering the airspace, thus causing a higher likelihood for collisions to occur if the drones are not monitored properly. Peterson said her team’s new radar technology may help with future collision avoidance.
“(Package delivery companies) don't have to have sensors on board, so they don't have to add the weight of saying, ‘Hey, let me make sure that I'm flying in a safe place,’” Peterson said.
Peterson envisioned that cities implementing drone package delivery would install the technology on their cell towers to have more awareness of the drone traffic in their city, and how to navigate the drones more safely.
“The whole idea of the project was to create new research in drone control, so we're hoping that the algorithms and the technology that we created will go out into the industry and be used for drone tracking,” Warnick said.
Further details of their research in drone tracking can be found in their official publication, "Online Calibration for Networked Radar Tracking of UAS."