A whole swarm of drones exchanging information with each other could recently be seen over the TU Ilmenau campus. The "conversation" of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) was followed by a group of researchers from the university, CiS GmbH and aeroDCS GmbH. Seven drones of different sizes with a diameter of up to three meters, the size of a small car, were simultaneously in the air at a height of 25 to 40 meters at times to investigate the question as part of the 6G-ICAS4Mobility research project: In addition to data transmission, how can 6G technology also be used to precisely detect and localize objects in the air with the help of communication signals?
In order for vehicles in the air or on the road to exchange information with each other quickly and reliably, they need sensors. Radar in particular helps cars or drones to "see" their surroundings and thus avoid collisions, for example. The vehicles can also "talk" to each other via communication systems. However, communication and sensor systems in vehicles have mostly run independently of each other to date, although they process the signals they receive in a similar way.
How can such communication and radar systems be linked more closely together in the future and integrated into a common 6G system to make connected mobility more efficient, sustainable and even safer? This question is being investigated by the 6G-ICAS4Mobility research project, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research as part of the 6G platform. The consortium, led by Robert Bosch GmbH, comprises 15 leading partners from universities, automotive suppliers, communication and radar specialists and drone providers. The project sponsor is VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH.
Integration of communication and radar environment detection in a realistic environment
In the drone experiment on the TU Ilmenau campus, which also included antenna installations on the roof of the Ernst-Abbe-Zentrum, the research team from the Electronic Measurement and Signal Processing Group (EMS) , led by Prof. Giovanni DelGaldo, investigated in particular the potential of so-called 6G sidelink signals for localizing objects, i.e. the communication and propagation of radio waves between flying objects and their reflections on unknown drones in a realistic environment. Orchestrating up to seven drones was also a major challenge for Flight Director Ralf Hoffmann from aeroDCS GmbH.
"It has always been our aim not only to theoretically research new concepts and algorithms in signal processing, for example for 6G mobile radio systems, but also to evaluate them under practical operating conditions," says Christian Schneider, project manager at the EMS department at TU Ilmenau:
We not only carry out complex simulations on the computer or just take measurements in our laboratories, but also investigate: How does the object behave in the radio channel between two or more drones or vehicles in a realistic environment? What are the influences of the environment and the reflections of the surroundings on the communication and/or localization task? This close relationship between theoretical approaches and evaluation based on measurement data from our daily environment is essential in the development chain for these 6G concepts and is therefore a unique selling point of our university.
The research team at TU Ilmenau led by Prof. Reiner Thomä and Christian Schneider will now evaluate the recorded measurement data on the computer as part of measurement data and software-based simulations. In parallel, the aeroDCS will analyze the LiDAR data to verify the object classification and environment modeling.
The aim of the investigations as part of the large-scale research project on the integration of mobile communications and radar environment detection is to make road and air traffic even safer and more efficient in the future. Project manager Christian Schneider:
However, the concepts and ideas we have developed could also be used to detect the heartbeat or respiratory activity of buried people, for example, or to look inside a wall. The method also saves resources in the long term.
