Biomimetic Antenna Design for an Atmospheric Probe

Abstract

This dissertation discusses the design and implementation of a biomimetic, flexible antenna system for an airborne atmospheric probe. The antenna is designed for an airborne sensor system known as the GlobalSense eMote. This system is designed to be deployed into areas of atmospheric interest to collect and transmit in-situ atmospheric data back to a base station for processing. The eMote operates in an industrial, scientific, and medical band, 902 – 928 MHz. The eMote is designed to replace the larger, more costly environmental data collection devices currently on the market. The antenna system was inspired by the evolution of the maple seed in that it utilizes flexible rotors to autorotate when falling to decrease the fall speed to increase the collection of in-situ data. The antennas are dual ribbon dipoles and are implemented into the flexible rotors. This work describes in detail the simulation, design, and testing procedure that was implemented to create the antennas. Careful detail is given to the testing procedure and the results used to validate this work.