Measurements of Electromagnetic Emission nearby a Compact Drone

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been penetrated into various markets. The control through cellular communication channels becomes of significant importance to ensure safely flying above densely populated areas. UAV s may suffer from electromagnetic interference (EMI) problems where their airframe is densely packed in a compact chassis with multiple electronic modules for power, control, and wireless communications. This paper describes the experiments on Electromagnetic (EM) emission within a compact (hobby or home) drone and the potentiality of EMI among the control and wireless modules once integrated in the same chassis. The EM waves were measured between 500 MHz and 6 GHz, with a folded long-hexagon antenna at 200 mm away from the drone in an anechoic box. It was observed that the drone emanated the EM waves up to -151 dBm/Hz in 800 MHz band. The influence on cellular communication performance was evaluated with a wireless communication system level simulator, showing the degradation by at most 15 dB in the minimum sensitivity if a receiver module exists in the same aircraft.