Multirotor platform with sensory head for measurement of selected air parameters

In this article, a project of an unmanned aerial system designed for monitoring of air pollution is presented. The system consists of an autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with a measurement head with sensors of chemical and physical properties of atmospheric air, and a ground control station arranged to store and display the collected data. The head contains modern sensors selective to the most important components of air in view of environmental pollution. Measurement data are acquired locally as well as transmitted wirelessly to a ground station. The UAV can be programmed to a particular measurement missions. The ground station dispose of a software for flight control and for visualisation of measurement results on-line. In this paper, an architecture of the entire system, a data processing performing by each subsystem, and communication methods between them are presented. This paper also includes a specification of sensors with their principles of operation, description of their metrological properties and the way, in which they are implemented in the designed electrical circuits. Results of preliminary tests in a laboratory and in a field, during a short flight, are also presented.