Spirent Issues Ebook on Testing Drones, UAVs

Spirent has issued a free new 28-page ebook designed to provide An Introduction to Testing Navigation and Positioning Performance in Drones, UAS and UAVs.

According to Spirent, “The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is starting to take off in commercial and military sectors. The potential applications of UAVs are many – including survey, mapping, media reporting, delivery, reconnaissance, conservation and search & rescue. What’s more, in some cases the cost of using UAVs has been found to be up to 98.8% cheaper than manned aircraft.

“But it is still early days, and for designers and developers of UAVs, there are many challenges in bringing viable models to market and putting them to work.”

The ebook looks at those challenges and sets out the main positioning and navigation considerations that UAV test teams should incorporate into their test regime, Spirent said. It covers:

• GNSS/GPS performance considerations — how to evaluate positioning capabilities of UAVs
• UAV design considerations, including where GNSS receivers should be placed, the type of antenna needed and more
• Which environmental/external factors need to be considered, such as wind, temperature and multipath effects
• Compliance considerations.

The ebook can be ordered through Spirent.