Design and Experimental Validation of UAV Swarm-Based Phased Arrays with MagSafe- and LEGO-Inspired RF Connectors

TL;DR

This paper introduces a scalable UAV swarm-based phased array system using innovative RF connectors, demonstrating effective beam steering and robustness in real-world tests for advanced airborne communication and sensing.

Contribution

It presents a novel UAV swarm-based phased array with MagSafe- and LEGO-inspired RF connectors, enabling precise, scalable, and low-loss antenna arrays with validated experimental performance.

Findings

Successful in-flight beam steering demonstrated

Low insertion loss of 0.2 dB achieved

System performance closely matches simulations

Abstract

This paper presents a novel UAV swarm-based phased array antenna system that leverages MagSafe- and LEGO-inspired radio frequency (RF) connectors to address key challenges in distributed phased arrays, including inter-element oscillator synchronization, localization, phase coherence, and positional accuracy. The proposed non-threaded, hands-free connectors enable precise inter-element spacing and establish a continuous, low-loss RF signal propagation path during mid-flight docking. A multi-stage optimization of the RF connector achieves a compact form factor, DC-to-RF bandwidth, and a measured insertion loss as low as 0.2\,dB. The system architecture offers scalability in gain and frequency by adjusting the array element density per UAV and UAV dimensions. Experimental results from both stationary and in-flight tests of two UAV-based phased array prototypes align closely with simulations, demonstrating robust beam steering to multiple directions. This work delivers a practical, scalable, and low-complexity platform that enables rapid deployment for next-generation airborne communications, radar, and remote sensing applications.