SMART ANTENNA ROTATOR CONTROLLER FOR UAVs

In wireless communication there is commonly much unnecessary communication made in directions not pointing towards the recipient. Normally omni directional antennas are being used which send the same amount of energy in all directions equally. This wastage of energy reduces the lifetime of battery powered units and causes more signal traffic collisions and thus finally reduces signal strength. One way of boosting signal strength is to use directional antenna controlled in proper direction as per requirement.

 In this project, we are using matrix keypad to enter angle of rotation for the antenna. The antenna rotates exactly at the entered angle value. We can monitor current orientation of antenna using digital magnetometer. This works as a feedback system to adjust required antenna position. The Atmega2560 microcontroller is used for processing data. The result is displayed on 3.2 inch TFT LCD. The gear DC motor is interfaced through L293d Motor Driver. The mechanical assembly is done to mount antenna. In this project, we are using HMC5883L sensor which is a 3-axis digital magnetometer IC from Honeywell designed for low-field magnetic sensing. Communication with the HMC5883L is through an I2C interface.  It finds exact orientation with the help of  measurement of Earth’s magnetic field.  It has applications in ships, aircrafts navigation,uavs,RADAR etc.

SOFTWARE :
• ARDUINO IDE
• EMBDDED CPP CODE

HARDWARE:

  1. ATMEGA2560 Microcontroller (Arduino Mega)
  2. HMC5883L Magnetometer IC (Honeywell)
  3. 3.2 inch TFT LCD Display
  4. Gear DC Motor
  5. L293d Motor Driver
  6. Matrix Keypad
  7. Regulated Power Supply