A simple system to provide communication and localization to drones with LEDs

Abstract

Visible light communication(VLC) is an emerging form of wireless communic- ation that uses visible light, where standard light sources such as LEDs serve as communication devices. Due to visible light bandwidths being significantly higher and underused, VLC offers an alternative to the more commonly used Radio Frequency(RF) devices. While VLC has many potential applications, one of its interests is using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, better known as drones. Most research projects using drones and VLC have focused on using VLC for localiz- ation, better known as Visible Light Positioning(VLP). However, more research is needed to enable VLC communication for UAVs. Therefore, implementing a system with both localization and communication based on VLC would result in greater independence of current RF systems. In this master thesis, the goal was to create a system capable of not only loc- alization using VLP but also communication using visible light. The addition of communication allows for remote control of the UAV, allowing for more ex- citing use cases and being less dependent on external tools for testing, such as PCs that fly the drone using Bluetooth. This system must be completely func- tional online, requiring all calculations and algorithms to be performed by the UAV and retrieving all of its data using visible light. The main challenges were overcoming the hardware limitations, improving the initial VLP system, and achieving a stable combination of communication and localization. While the research succeeded in realizing such a system, in the end, many complexities and limitations severely limit the system’s capabilities, such as limited range (10-20cm) and low data rates(1-5Hz). ii