Zigbee Protocol-Based Communication Network for Multi-Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Networks

Abstract

This paper proposes a communication protocol for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) using ZigBee technology. A review of the state-of-the-art of Flying Ad-hoc Networks (FANETs) and its main respective technologies is presented in detail. A comparison among Long Term Evaluation (LTE), WiFi, and ZigBee is performed, thus showing that ZigBee stands out as a good alternative to scenarios without proper infrastructure. A Raspberry Pi 3 Model B board associated with module XBEE PRO S3B 915 MHz is embedded in a UAV model DJI Phantom 3 Standard to carry out the tests. The obtained results show that the adopted protocol is capable of sending and receiving images between the UAV and the ground station. Tests are also performed using a flying aircraft, where it is demonstrated that the transmission is successfully executed for all cases and the communication protocol operates accurately. In addition, a brief analysis of the time interval required by the process is presented, as there are no significant differences among the existing scenarios.