C-Band Telemetry of Insect Pollinators Using a Miniature Transmitter and a Self-Piloted Drone

Jake Shearwood; Nawaf Aldabashi; Amira Eltokhy; Elizabeth Franklin; Nigel Raine; Chaochun Zhang; Edward  Palmer; Paul Cross; Cristiano Palego

doi:10.1109/TMTT.2020.3034323

C-Band Telemetry of Insect Pollinators Using a Miniature Transmitter and a Self-Piloted Drone

Jake Shearwood, Nawaf Aldabashi, Amira Eltokhy, Elizabeth Franklin, Nigel Raine, Chaochun Zhang, Edward Palmer, Paul Cross, Cristiano Palego

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Abstract

A battery-less 5.8 GHz transmitter, compact and
lightweight enough to enable flight of ~90 mg honeybees and free
roaming of bumblebees within their nest, was developed. The
transmitter was coupled to a compact phased array antenna
receiver to achieve angle of arrival (AOA) estimation and bee
localization through a received signal strength indicator approach
(RSSI). The receiver was integrated into a commercial Unmanned
Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to support autonomous position updates
based on the AOA estimates and a software development kit. A
simple model predicting the system detection range was finally
developed and is herein discussed. Our experimental results
provide proof of concept towards autonomous tracking of tagged
bees both in open air and in polytunnel settings.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	938-946
Journal	IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques
Volume	69
Issue number	1
Early online date	11 Nov 2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/TMTT.2020.3034323
Publication status	Published - Jan 2021

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title = "C-Band Telemetry of Insect Pollinators Using a Miniature Transmitter and a Self-Piloted Drone",

abstract = "A battery-less 5.8 GHz transmitter, compact and lightweight enough to enable flight of \textasciitilde{}90 mg honeybees and free roaming of bumblebees within their nest, was developed. The transmitter was coupled to a compact phased array antenna receiver to achieve angle of arrival (AOA) estimation and bee localization through a received signal strength indicator approach (RSSI). The receiver was integrated into a commercial Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to support autonomous position updates based on the AOA estimates and a software development kit. A simple model predicting the system detection range was finally developed and is herein discussed. Our experimental results provide proof of concept towards autonomous tracking of tagged bees both in open air and in polytunnel settings.",

author = "Jake Shearwood and Nawaf Aldabashi and Amira Eltokhy and Elizabeth Franklin and Nigel Raine and Chaochun Zhang and Edward Palmer and Paul Cross and Cristiano Palego",

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T1 - C-Band Telemetry of Insect Pollinators Using a Miniature Transmitter and a Self-Piloted Drone

AU - Shearwood, Jake

AU - Aldabashi, Nawaf

AU - Eltokhy, Amira

AU - Franklin, Elizabeth

AU - Raine, Nigel

AU - Zhang, Chaochun

AU - Palmer, Edward

AU - Cross, Paul

AU - Palego, Cristiano

PY - 2021/1

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N2 - A battery-less 5.8 GHz transmitter, compact and lightweight enough to enable flight of ~90 mg honeybees and free roaming of bumblebees within their nest, was developed. The transmitter was coupled to a compact phased array antenna receiver to achieve angle of arrival (AOA) estimation and bee localization through a received signal strength indicator approach (RSSI). The receiver was integrated into a commercial Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to support autonomous position updates based on the AOA estimates and a software development kit. A simple model predicting the system detection range was finally developed and is herein discussed. Our experimental results provide proof of concept towards autonomous tracking of tagged bees both in open air and in polytunnel settings.

AB - A battery-less 5.8 GHz transmitter, compact and lightweight enough to enable flight of ~90 mg honeybees and free roaming of bumblebees within their nest, was developed. The transmitter was coupled to a compact phased array antenna receiver to achieve angle of arrival (AOA) estimation and bee localization through a received signal strength indicator approach (RSSI). The receiver was integrated into a commercial Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to support autonomous position updates based on the AOA estimates and a software development kit. A simple model predicting the system detection range was finally developed and is herein discussed. Our experimental results provide proof of concept towards autonomous tracking of tagged bees both in open air and in polytunnel settings.

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M3 - Article

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JO - IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques

JF - IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques

IS - 1

ER -

C-Band Telemetry of Insect Pollinators Using a Miniature Transmitter and a Self-Piloted Drone

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