System Architecture Design of a UAV for Automated Cinematography in GNSS-Challenging Scenarios

The paper presents an architecture design of a custom drone whose mission consists in reproducing typical cinematographic shots in unstructured environments, where loss or degradation of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signal can be experienced due to jamming, spoofing, and multipath effects. In this application field, an accurate measurement system is required to estimate the drone position and attitude with a high-accuracy level; in fact, not only do these values have a remarkable impact on the execution of the cinematographic shots, but they also allow to adopt drones in critical environmental conditions such as tunnels, bridges, canyon, and desert which are typical for these applications. The preliminary configuration is designed considering Unmanned Vehicle’s navigation and communication requirements; in particular, the paper proposes the integration of a tactical-grade Inertial Navigation Unit (IMU) and an accurate GNSS receiver in RTK (Real-Time Kinematic) mode, and the employment of a 5G Radio-modem to compensate for any signal loss or damage. In addition, an appropriate hardware selection algorithm is proposed to also account for power consumption due to 5G and GNSS module usage depending on the mission type and on the GNSS integrity signal. The employment of 5G technology is then proposed as an advantageous solution in case of GNSS signal loss or damage and, finally, a suitable GNSS/5G integrated methodology is assessed.