Method of Experimental Verification of Accuracy of UAV Antenna Phase Center Motion Parameters Determined by Navigation System

Resumo

The paper addresses the problem of verification of a micronavigation system appropriateness for determining the parameters of antenna phase center (APC) motion in order to synthesize its aperture onboard an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). A method is proposed for the analysis of the accuracy of APC positioning in real flight conditions. Trajectory signal from a monochromatic stationary source of radio-frequency (RF) emission is used as reference measurements. The accuracy of the range to the source measured by the micronavigation system is estimated, with an emphasis on the analysis of high-frequency component of measurement error. Hardware for the proposed method implementation is described, and the results of inflight tests are presented. It is demonstrated that the accuracy of APC positioning towards the RF emission source is determined at the level of measurement errors caused by the phase instability of reference oscillators within the receiver modules.