Experimental Connectivity Analysis for Drones in Greenhouses

This study aims to explore the communication capabilities for video crucial applications of two commercial drones—the Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 and the Parrot Anafi—in a greenhouse environment. Experiments were conducted on Received Signal Strength (RSS), Round-Trip Time (RTT) and the throughput on 802.11n at the 2.4 GHz network. From the experiments, it was found that none of the UAVs have an isotropic radiation pattern. Indoor measurements close to the roof and the ground were more prone to signal degradation. Even though the RTT of the Parrot Anafi was higher than that of the AR.Drone 2.0, the Anafi in almost all cases managed to achieve higher throughput and lower path loss, proving its superiority for video application. In addition, the maximum distance that the Parrot Anafi could fly in the greenhouse without any video quality loss was 110 m, while the AR.Drone 2.0 was hardly able to reach 30 m. Finally, the effect of the propellers has an insignificant impact on the UAV connection characteristics in all tested scenarios.