Multi‐Sensory Data Fusion in Terms of UAV Detection in 3D Space

Abstract

The paper focuses on the problem of detecting unmanned aerial vehicles that violate restricted airspace. The main purpose of the research is to develop an algorithm that enables the de-tection, identification and recognition in 3D space of a UAV violating restricted airspace. The proposed method consists of multi‐sensory data fusion and is based on conditional complementary filtration and multi‐stage clustering. On the basis of the review of the available UAV detection tech-nologies, three sensory systems classified into the groups of passive and active methods are selected. The UAV detection algorithm is developed on the basis of data collected during field tests under real conditions, from three sensors: a radio system, an ADS‐B transponder and a radar equipped with four antenna arrays. The efficiency of the proposed solution was tested on the basis of rapid prototyping in the MATLAB simulation environment with the use of data from the real sensory system obtained during controlled UAV flights. The obtained results of UAV detections confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed method and theoretical expectations.