Compact-size Lightweight Beam-reconfigurable ESPAR Antenna with Parasitic Elements for UAV Applications

Authors

  • Min-Jae Kang Department of Electrical Engineering Gyeongsang National University (GNU), B405-401, 501, Jinju-daero, Jinju-si, Gyeongnam, 52828, Republic of Korea
  • Yu-Seong Choi Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), Ltd 78, Gongdan 1-ro, Sanam-myeon, Sacheon-si, Gyeongnam, 52529, Republic of Korea
  • Wang-Sang Lee Gyeongsang National University (GNU), B405-401, 501, Jinju-daero, Jinju-si, Gyeongnam, 52828, Republic of Korea

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13052/2024.ACES.J.390507

Keywords:

Beam-reconfigurable, compact, electronically steerable parasitic array radiator (ESPAR) antenna, PIN didoes, UAV applications

Abstract

This paper presents a compact lightweight beam-reconfigurable antenna system for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The antenna system consists of a central active monopole element surrounded by eight parasitic elements, which can be controlled using PIN diodes to switch the beam across four elevation angles and eight azimuth beams. This beam-reconfigurable antenna system has several advantages over traditional UAV antennas, including light weight, efficiency, and compactness. The antenna system operates at 5.09 GHz and achieves a measured peak gain of 4.55 dBi, with a remarkably low weight of 9 g and a size of 1.00λ0×1.00λ0×0.22λ0.

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Author Biographies

Min-Jae Kang, Department of Electrical Engineering Gyeongsang National University (GNU), B405-401, 501, Jinju-daero, Jinju-si, Gyeongnam, 52828, Republic of Korea

Min-Jae Kang received the B.S. degrees in electronic engineering from Gyeongsang National University (GNU), Jinju, South Korea, in 2023. His research interests are reconfigurable antennas for unmanned aeronautics, wireless power transfer, high-power microwave systems, and communications systems, RFID/IoT sensors, and RF/microwave circuit and antenna designs.

Yu-Seong Choi, Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), Ltd 78, Gongdan 1-ro, Sanam-myeon, Sacheon-si, Gyeongnam, 52529, Republic of Korea

Yu-Seong Choi received the B.S. and the M.S. degrees in electronic engineering from Gyeongsang National University (GNU), Jinju, South Korea, in 2019 and 2021, respectively. Since 2022, he is currently working in Korea Aerospace Industries.

His research interests include reconfigurable antenna design & analysis, RF/Microwave circuits and systems, and RFID/IoT sensors.

Wang-Sang Lee, Gyeongsang National University (GNU), B405-401, 501, Jinju-daero, Jinju-si, Gyeongnam, 52828, Republic of Korea

Wang-Sang Lee received the B.S. degree from Soongsil University, Seoul, South Korea, in 2004, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, South Korea, in 2006 and 2013, respectively.

From 2006 to 2010, he was with the Electromagnetic Compatibility Technology Center, Digital Industry Division, Korea Testing Laboratory (KTL), Ansan-si, South Korea, where he was involved in the international standardization for radio frequency identification (RFID) and photovoltaic systems as well as electromagnetic interference (EMI)/EMC analysis, modeling, and measurements for information technology devices. In 2013, he joined the Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI), Uiwang-si, South Korea, as a Senior Researcher, where he was involved in the position detection for high-speed railroad systems and microwave heating for low-vibration rapid tunnel excavation system. Since 2014, he has been an Associate Professor with the Department of Electronic Engineering, Gyeongsang Nat’l University (GNU), Jinju, South Korea. From 2018 to 2019, he was a Visiting Scholar with the ATHENA Group, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA. His current research interests include near- and far-field wireless power and data communications systems, RF/microwave antenna, circuit, and system design, RFID/Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, and EMI/EMC.

Dr. Lee is a member of IEC/ISO JTC1/SC31, KIEES, IEIE, and KSR. He was a recipient of the Best Paper Award at IEEE RFID in 2013, the Kim Choong-Ki Award Electrical Engineering Top Research Achievement Award at the Department of Electrical Engineering, KAIST, in 2013, the Best Ph.D. Dissertation Award at the Department of Electrical Engineering, KAIST, in 2014, the Young Researcher Award at KIEES in 2017, and the Best Paper Awards at IEIE in 2018 and KICS in 2019.

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Published

2024-05-31

How to Cite

[1]
M.-J. Kang, Y.-S. Choi, and W.-S. Lee, “Compact-size Lightweight Beam-reconfigurable ESPAR Antenna with Parasitic Elements for UAV Applications”, ACES Journal, vol. 39, no. 05, pp. 433–439, May 2024.

Issue

2024: Vol 39 Iss 5

Section

General Submission

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