Research workshop NATO about UAV testing

The R&D laboratory of DPM Elettronica srl ​​continues to work on the DronesBench and new methodological advancements will be proposed at a NATO workshop in May 2021, in collaboration with the academic partner of reference Università del Sannio, Benevento, Italy.

In particular, three relevant, measurable parameters for the safety of drones will be put forward for consideration:

1.0 DBIs

The DBIs (drones bench index standard) is a parameter that indicates the ratio between the weight of the drone and the electrical power needed to raise it in International Standard Atmosphere conditions, indicating the environmental conditions at a temperature of 288.15 K (15 °C), pressure of 101.325 kPa (1 atm), and humidity 0.00%, therefore standard air density 1.225 kg/m³.
The DBI is a characteristic parameter of the drone and its decreasing indicates a loss of efficiency in at least one of the following components: battery, ESC controllers, motors, propellers.
DBI may be measured using a test bench such as Dronesbench or directly from the drone using current, voltage, pressure, temperature and humidity sensors.

2.0 TOFs [x] Available

The TOFs [x] is the flight time of a drone with its standard equipment and with overload x (percentage of load with respect to weight) measured in International Standard Atmosphere conditions. TOFs [x] is measured in minutes and fractions of a minute. The approximate measurement of the TOFs [x] can be made by attaching the required weight to the drone and measuring the flight time in Hovering. An accurate measurement can be made with the Dronesbench test bench by setting the thrust level the drone must have.

3.0 CDLF

CDLF or Conductive Drone Landing Feeds, if standardized, would allow the creation and use of landing and charging bases for standard drones. Through these power lines, the operator could communicate with the drone and its battery.

Introductory References

1. P.Daponte, L.De Vito, F.Lamonaca, F.Picariello, M.Riccio, S.Rapuano, L.Pompetti, M.Pompetti, “DronesBench: An innovative bench to test drones”, IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Magazine, vol.20, No.6, December 2017, pp.8-15.

2. B.Brzozowski, P.Daponte, L.De Vito, F.Lamonaca, F.Picariello, M.Pompetti, I.Tudosa, K.Wojtowicz, “A remote controlled platform for UAS testing”, IEEE Aerospace & Electronics Systems Magazine, vol.33, pp.48-56, 2018.

If interested in knowing more, please drop an e-mail to our CEO Mauro Pompetti at info@dronesbench.com. Flying together!