UAV assisted wireless sensor networks play a key role in the detection of toxic gases and aerosols. UAVs can be used to remotely deploy sensor nodes and then collect gas concentration readings and GPS positioning from them to delimit an affected area. For such purpose, a dual-band communication system is required, supporting GPS reception, and sensor reading data transfer, which is chosen to be at 2.4 GHz using LoRa physical layer. In this work we propose a switched-beam antenna subsystem for the sensor nodes capable not only of satisfying the dual band requirements but also of maximizing communication range or energy consumption through a good antenna polarization match and improved antenna gain. This antenna subsystem is built using dual-port, dual-band, circularly polarized antenna elements, whose design and experimental validation is carefully detailed. A low profile microstrip stacked structure has been used to obtain return loss in both bands better than 15 dB, axial ratios below 1.5 dB, and wide −3 dB beamwidths around 90° and 75° for GPS and 2.4 GHz bands, respectively, thus limiting the gain reduction of the switched-beam system in critical sensor orientations. Special attention has been paid to reduce the coupling between both ports through the optimization of the relative placement of both patches and their feeding points. The measured coupling is below −30 dB.
The modal characteristics of tapered single mode optical fibers and its strain sensing characteristics by using mechanically induced long period fiber gratings are presented in this work. Both Long Period Fiber Gratings (LPFG) and fiber tapers are fiber devices that couple light from the core fiber into the fiber cladding modes.The mechanical LPFG is made up of two plates, one flat and the other grooved. For this experiment the grooved plate was done on an acrylic slab with the help of a computer numerical control machine. The manufacturing of the tapered fiber is accomplished by applying heat using an oxygen-propane flame burner and stretching the fiber, which protective coating has been removed. Then, a polymer-tube-package is added in order to make the sensor sufficiently stiff for the tests. The mechanical induced LPFG is accomplished by putting the tapered fiber in between the two plates, so the taper acquires the form of the grooved plate slots.Using a laser beam the transmission spectrum showed a large peak transmission attenuation of around -20 dB.The resultant attenuation peak wavelength in the transmission spectrum shifts with changes in tension showing a strain sensitivity of 2pm/µɛ. This reveals an improvement on the sensitivity for structure monitoring applications compared with the use of a standard optical fiber. In addition to the experimental work, the supporting theory and numerical simulation analysis are also included.
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