Phase II Roadmap
TRL 3 to TRL 5: hardware validation of acoustic coordination
Engineering Phases
Phase 0: Noise Measurement
Mount microphone on target drone, record audio at hover, compute power spectral density. Validates the quiet-band assumption with real hardware. Go/no-go gate for the entire program.
Phase 1: Bench Test
Two drone frames, motors spinning, 10 m apart. Measure BER across multiple configurations. Test multipath with ground reflector. Gate: BER < 0.01.
Phase 2: DOA + Ranging
Validate passive sensing layer with real hardware. DOA accuracy and ranging at operational distances. Gate: position error < 1 m.
Phase 3: Multi-Drone
3–5 drone frames with motors running, 5–15 m spacing. Test multi-access and interference management. Gate: BER < 0.05 with 5 drones.
Phase 4: Flight Test (TRL 5)
Two drones hovering at 10 m separation. Measure BER in hover and during slow translation. First in-flight validation. Gate: BER < 0.05 in flight.
Phase 5: Swarm Demonstration
5+ drones, autonomous formation, GPS denial. Full stack running simultaneously. Deliverable: video demonstration of acoustic swarm coordination.
Timeline
12 weeks
Aggressive schedule (no delays)
16–20 weeks
Realistic schedule (with iteration)
Phase II Objectives
Phase 0: Noise Measurement
Mount mic on target drone, record audio at hover, compute PSD. Validates or invalidates the quiet-band assumption. Go/no-go gate.
Phase 1: 10-Meter Bench Test
Two drone frames, 10 m apart, motors spinning. Measure BER at multiple configurations. Also test multipath with ground reflector. Gate: BER < 0.01.
Phase 2: DOA + Ranging Validation
Validate passive sensing layer. DOA accuracy and ranging at 1–20 m with real hardware. Gate: position error < 1 m.
Phase 3: Multi-Drone Bench
3–5 drone frames with motors running, 5–15 m spacing. Test multi-access and interference management. Gate: BER < 0.05 with 5 drones.
Phase 4: Flight Test (TRL 5)
Two drones hovering at 10 m separation. Measure BER in hover and during slow translation. Gate: BER < 0.05 in flight.
Phase 5: Swarm Demonstration
5+ drones, autonomous formation, GPS denial. Full stack running simultaneously. Deliverable: video of acoustic swarm coordination.
Risk Assessment
| Risk | Prob | Impact | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3–5 kHz band noisier than modeled | Med | High | Frequency-agile design; shift to wherever quiet band falls. Phase 0 measurement validates. |
| Doppler in high-speed maneuvers | Low | Low | Addressed in simulation to 30 m/s. Hardware validation pending. |
| Multipath ground reflections | Med | Med | Rake receiver techniques; Phase 1 includes multipath test with ground reflector. |
| Wind/turbulence noise | Low | Low | Addressed: BER below measurement threshold to 12 m/s in simulation. |
| Multi-drone interference | Med | Med | TDMA validated to 12 drones; FDMA adds capacity. |
| Mic saturation from self-noise | Low | High | High-AOP MEMS microphone (138 dB AOP) is default in BOM. |
| Hardware noise floor differs from model | Med | Med | Phase 0 measurement replaces all simulation assumptions with real data. |
| Piezo + horn source level < 85 dB | Low | Med | Measure first; design around actual SPL. |