UAV Direction Finding Using Phase Difference
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UNIVERSITY OF TARTU Faculty of Science and Technology Institute of Technology Rein Jaks UAV Direction Finding Using Phase Difference Master’s thesis (30 ECTS) Robotics and Computer Engineering Supervisor: MSc Jaanus Kalde Tartu 2020 Resümee/Abstract Mehitamata õhusõiduki suuna määramine faasivahe meetodit kasutades Mehitamata õhusõidukid on viimase aastakümne jooksul muutunud järjest tavapärasevamaks nähtuseks. Kuigi neid kasutatakse nii meelelahutuseks kui fotograafiaks, on mehitamata õhusõidukid suureks ohuks julgeolekule. Selle kaitseks on võimalik avastada raadio suunamäärajaga raadiosaatjaga varustatud õhusõidukeid. Kuigi raadio suunamäärajaid on juba olemas, on need sageli rasked, kallid ja vajavad keerukaid riistvaralisi lisasid. Antud omaduste vältimiseks koostatakse töös automaatselt signaali tuvastav raadio suunamääraja Adcock meetodil, kasutades odava klassi tarkvararaadiot ja kahte monopol antenni. CERCS: T125 Automatiseerimine, robootika, juhtimistehnika, P140 Jadad, Fourier analüüs, funktsionaalanalüüs, T121 Signallitöötlus, T330 Sõjandus ja militaartehnoloogia Märksõnad: Mehitamata Õhusõiduk, Tarkvararaadio, Suuna Määramine, Faasivahe, Raadiolaine, Signaali Tuvastus, Adcock UAV Direction Finding Using Phase Difference UAVs have become more common over the course of last decade. While these can be used for entertainment purposes and capture stunning photography these can cause great threat to national security when deployed in the wrong location. Radio Direction finder can be used for detecting and finding an UAV with a transmitter on board. While there are multiple direction finders available, these are heavy, expensive and need complicated technology to work. For this thesis using an inexpensive SDR and two monopole antennas a direction finder with automatic signal detection is constructed implementing Adcock phase difference method. CERCS: T125 Automation, robotics, control engineering, P140 Series, Fourier analysis, functional analysis, T121 Signal Processing, T330 Military science and technology Keywords: UAV, Software Defined Radio, SDR, Direction finding, Phase Difference, Radio Wave, Signal Detection, Adcock 1 Table of contents Resümee/Abstract ...................................................................................................................... 1 Table of contents ........................................................................................................................ 2 List of Figures ............................................................................................................................ 4 List of Used Abbreviations and Constants................................................................................. 5 List of Tables ............................................................................................................................. 7 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 8 1.1 Problem Statement ...................................................................................................... 8 1.2 Objectives .................................................................................................................... 8 2. State of the Art ................................................................................................................... 9 2.1 Direction finding methods ........................................................................................... 9 2.2.1 Location finding ........................................................................................................ 9 2.2.2 Direction Finding Algorithms ................................................................................. 10 2.2 Software Defined Radios .......................................................................................... 13 2.3 Currently available technologies ............................................................................... 14 3. Methodology .................................................................................................................... 15 3.1 Radio wave theory ..................................................................................................... 15 3.1.1 Phase measurement ................................................................................................. 15 3.1.2 Distance................................................................................................................... 17 3.2 Hardware ................................................................................................................... 18 3.2.1 Software Defined Radio ..................................................................................... 18 3.2.2 Antennas ............................................................................................................ 19 3.2.3 Testing Devices .................................................................................................. 20 3.3 Development ............................................................................................................. 20 3.3.1 Phase measurement ................................................................................................. 21 3.3.2 Signal detection ....................................................................................................... 24 2 3.3.3 Analysis and visualisation....................................................................................... 26 4. Testing.............................................................................................................................. 29 4.1 Minimum pulse duration ........................................................................................... 29 4.2 Maximum range ........................................................................................................ 31 4.3 Stability and Accuracy .............................................................................................. 31 5. Limitations and Further Improvements ........................................................................... 36 5.1 Limitations ................................................................................................................ 36 5.2 Improvements ............................................................................................................ 36 6. Conclusions ...................................................................................................................... 37 Acknowledgement ................................................................................................................... 38 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 39 Appendix I – Flow graph of the GNU Radio program ............................................................ 42 Appendix II – Codes for custom blocks .................................................................................. 43 Signal converter ................................................................................................................... 43 Pin to frequency ................................................................................................................... 43 If threshold ........................................................................................................................... 44 Appendix III – Signal visualisation ......................................................................................... 45 Appendix IV – Error Handling ................................................................................................ 47 Non-exclusive licence to reproduce thesis and make thesis public ......................................... 49 3 List of Figures Figure 1: Difference of trilateration and triangulation [6] ....................................................... 10 Figure 2: Illustration of the Adcock method using cathode array tubes [7] ............................ 11 Figure 3: VDF antenna in EETU (Tartu Airport) .................................................................... 12 Figure 4: Block diagram of an SDR [11] ................................................................................. 13 Figure 5: Signal with 45-degree phase difference simulated in MATLAB ............................. 16 Figure 6: Testing objects - from the left video transmitter (1), two-way radio (2), remote (3). .................................................................................................................................................. 20 Figure 7: Simplified flow graph of the software. Graph made in code2flow environment. .... 21 Figure 8: Phase difference calculation in GNU Radio............................................................. 22 Figure 9: Phase signals (blue phase 1, red phase 2 and green is subtraction) in time domain with delay of 60 samples.......................................................................................................... 22 Figure 10: Phase subtraction process with two custom blocks ................................................ 23 Figure 11: Phase signals (blue phase 1, red phase 2 and green is subtraction) in time domain with delay of 60 samples with added custom if block in GNU Radio QTGUI. ...................... 24 Figure 12: Signal detection part in GNU Radio...................................................................... 25 Figure 13: Visualisation