We are developing a disaster management system using two autonomous drones — a Scout Drone for area surveillance and survivor identification, and a Delivery Drone for transporting essential supplies. Survivors are expected to be on rooftops over 6 meters high due to flooding, making aerial delivery critical.
Challenge:
Establishing reliable communication between the Scout Drone, Delivery Drone, and Ground Control Station (GCS) is difficult due to obstacles and lack of clear line-of-sight (LOS) in disaster environments, risking data loss and mission failure.
Requirement:
We seek a robust, low-latency communication solution that works under Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) conditions and supports real-time telemetry, video, and control between all devices.
Request:
We welcome suggestions on suitable communication architectures, technologies, and protocols to ensure seamless coordination for disaster response.
A mini computer attached to flight controller and using either a wireless broadband device or something like the Starlink system could work.
Perhaps my first suggestion - wireless broadband device - is less suitable as I know from own disaster related experience. Often after a disaster there is a lack of phone services, both fixed and mobile service. Hence a wireless broadband device is less reliable.
Also long range transmitter might still be suitable as for safety reasons no drone should fly close to people at low altitude.
This is one of the reasons why delivery drones usually stay in a safe distance above ground. A small winch is then usually used to lower items to affected people.
Other option is to simply drop items where it is safe to do so and items can’t break. (I.e. a loaf of bread, some cans of food, a first aid kit,…)
Some of the Ground Control Stations can link to different drones by using different ID numbers for each drone. However, when using just one Ground Control Station it can get very messy when trying to manage / control multiple drones.
My advise would be running multiple instances of such software and perhaps have screens side by side. (I.e. 4 small windows of Ground Control software on one computer., allowing to control 4 drones at once)
Also keep in mind that drone systems like PX4, Ardupilot,…have build in fail-safes. If communication is lost it can return to launch position without any control signal if required.
Thank you for the helpful insights, especially regarding Starlink and winch-based delivery — those are great considerations.
Our main challenge is ensuring low-latency, reliable communication in NLOS conditions between the Scout Drone, Delivery Drone, and GCS, especially for real-time telemetry, video, and control.
Could you please suggest:
Suitable radio technologies (e.g., LoRa, Ubiquiti M5, MANET, etc.) that work well in such environments?
Recommended protocols for real-time data and video transmission?
A possible communication architecture — for example, should the Scout Drone relay data to the GCS?
We’re also considering ROS2 for system integration and would appreciate any tips for reliable communication under NLOS using ROS2.
In regards to radio technology:
You wouldn’t want a technology that requires essentially an electronics communication technician just to build and maintain the communication system.
Ideally a ready made solution, which can be operated by anyone after some basic training, would be best.
Some examples:
Those above units can cope with signal interruption, can also (model depended) be connected to external computer and in some cases be connected to large screens via HDMI.
This brings me to your next point:
Protocol:
If you want to create your own system, rather than buying something ready made as seen in above examples, you can use UDP protocol. This is already fully available in Ground Control Station software like QGC and MP.
That protocol is essentially the only well established digital protocol which can handle signal interruption. Other protocols rely on continuous communication between sender & receiver.
After all, this is why UDP has also been used in rocket and space technology where signal interruptions are likely to occur.
Communication architecture:
Any modern controller & software like PX4 and Ardupilot are designed, but don’t have to be, in communication with a ground station. This is already happening on those devices previously mentioned. As they integrate both, live video and telemetry via a Ground Station Software.
After all you don’t want to sent in a Scout drone, perhaps at a cost of $5000.- or more, only to have it disappear without knowing why and where it exactly went missing. As then perhaps another drone might also go missing shortly after. I.e. intense fire at a particular location, or bust water mains spraying water straight at drone,…
You may find additional and very helpful insights in projects like:
Japan Innovations Challenge
