Drone
Scout User Manual - version 1.1 November 2021 - © BlueMark Innovations BV 2021
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 What is it?
DroneScout
is a product to detect (consumer) drones near your house or other objects of interest
by detecting the wireless signal between drone and remote controller/pilot. Focus of
DroneScout
is
on consumer drones (quadcopters ) with a live video feed. The product consists of sensors that are
installed in the area of interest and a portal for managing sensors and generating alarms.
1.2 Drone detection
There is a large variety of drones: air, water, ground.
DroneScout
focuses on drones that have a
wireless
video link
between drone and pilot/remote controller. Those are the ones that affect your
privacy most and also transmit continuously wireless video signals (and control signals).
Detection algorithm
DroneScout
scans the RF spectrum for drone signals. The detection algorithm identifies RF sources
that both suddenly appear and moving. The product does not try to decode the wireless signal,
instead it relies on the basic characteristic of a moving RF source.
Consumer drones transmit wireless signals in the 2.4 GHz band and the 5.8 GHz band. The preferred
wireless band for drones is 2.4 GHz, as the transmission range is the largest. The 5.8 GHz is typically
used as alternative ban. In case there is a lot of RF interference/signals in the 2.4 GHz band, such as
in dense urban areas with many WiFi networks, the drone switches to the 5.8 GHz band.
DroneScout is also able to detect control signals, however the detection range for such signals is
much less; up to 100 meter due to the lower transmit power.
WiFi interference
WiFi networks use the same 2.4 GHz band. The 5.8 GHz band on the other hand is rarely used by
WiFi networks. Nearby WiFi networks will limit the detection range of
DroneScout
as the drone
signal needs to be
stronger
than the signal of the WiFi network (‘noise floor’), otherwise it can’t be
detected. It means that the
DroneScout
sensor should be installed at a location where only weak
WiFi signals are present. (I.e. the signal strength of nearby WiFi networks should be less than -95
dBm.) In that case, the sensor has maximum detection range. Of course, most drones will try to use
the most empty channel for communication, so one strong WiFi network won’t affect the
performance much. However, the drone and remote controller will determine the best channel
based on
their
location, which is different from the sensor location. So there may still be a
probability that the drone chooses the frequency of your nearby WiFi network.
Bluetooth interference
Bluetooth signals use also the 2.4 GHz band. Compared to WiFi, Bluetooth uses the whole 2.4 GHz
band; it hops very fast to a new channel. WiFi on the other hand has a fixed channel. It means that
Bluetooth does not affect much the detection range of DroneScout. Only active Bluetooth
connections within 25 meter of the sensor may reduce the maximum detection range to some
extend.
