Low-profile and horizontally-polarised antenna for UAV applications

Abstract

A low-profile antenna, with horizontally-polarised radiation similar to a dipole antenna with a reflector in proximity, is presented for application in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The antenna has a simple structure comprising two folded strips (a radiating strip and a feeding strip). Resonance and impedance matching is achieved by adjusting the capacitive loads located at the ends of the radiating strip and adjusting the coupling of the feeding strip to the radiating strip. A prototype with height of 30 mm (0.05 λ) and a lateral size of 160×50 mm2 (0.27×0.083 λ2) is implemented, which shows that an impedance bandwidth of 11 MHz (500–511 MHz) within 2.0:1 VSWR and good radiation performance are obtained.