The present work examines waypoint selection and evaluation mechanisms for data muling water sensor nodes via unmanned air vehicle. We present a mathematical model for predicting signal strength with respect to distance and height using a two-ray propagation model in conjunction with the individual radiation patterns of transmitting and receiving antennas. Signal quality over space is then be used to select best waypoints. Packet reception rate is related to the received signal strength indicator through experimentation and serves as a data efficiency indicator. Both models are then used to gather performance metrics of several simple path planning schemes. Both hover-only and in-flight communication are compared. Packet reception rate limitations were found to dramatically limit the effectiveness of waypoint selection regardless of power efficiency.
","abstract_html":"<p>The present work examines waypoint selection and evaluation mechanisms for data muling water sensor nodes via unmanned air vehicle. We present a mathematical model for predicting signal strength with respect to distance and height using a two-ray propagation model in conjunction with the individual radiation patterns of transmitting and receiving antennas. Signal quality over space is then be used to select best waypoints. Packet reception rate is related to the received signal strength indicator through experimentation and serves as a data efficiency indicator. Both models are then used to gather performance metrics of several simple path planning schemes. Both hover-only and in-flight communication are compared. Packet reception rate limitations were found to dramatically limit the effectiveness of waypoint selection regardless of power efficiency.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Palmer, Jacob N."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (M.S.)","degree_level":"Thesis - Pacific Access Restricted","degree_discipline":"Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Elizabeth Basha"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:36:00Z","subjects":["Computer Engineering","Electromagnetics","Robotics","Pure sciences","Applied sciences","Data muling","Path planning","Power","Propagation","Radio","Waypoints","Engineering"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["9781321905007"],"render_values":[{"text":"9781321905007","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/218","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Elizabeth Basha"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Palmer, Jacob N."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2018-06-29T09:07:25Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - Pacific Access Restricted"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (M.S.)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Computer Engineering","Electromagnetics","Robotics","Pure sciences","Applied sciences","Data muling","Path planning","Power","Propagation","Radio","Waypoints","Engineering"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["9781321905007","https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/218"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The present work examines waypoint selection and evaluation mechanisms for data muling water sensor nodes via unmanned air vehicle. We present a mathematical model for predicting signal strength with respect to distance and height using a two-ray propagation model in conjunction with the individual radiation patterns of transmitting and receiving antennas. Signal quality over space is then be used to select best waypoints. Packet reception rate is related to the received signal strength indicator through experimentation and serves as a data efficiency indicator. Both models are then used to gather performance metrics of several simple path planning schemes. Both hover-only and in-flight communication are compared. Packet reception rate limitations were found to dramatically limit the effectiveness of waypoint selection regardless of power efficiency.
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