Raspberry Pi ADS-B Transponder Helps Drones Fly Responsibly

Drones have become increasingly popular within the last few years. In fact, an entire community now exists for drone enthusiasts and hobbyist. This has resulted in an increased number of drones taking to the skies. In addition, it has also raised awareness around concerns about safety and regulations surrounding drone operation.

Currently, the list of precautions a drone operator should take include flying below 400ft, flying within visual sight, not flying over crowds or stadiums, not flying within five miles of an airport, not flying around emergency response sites, avoiding operation near other aircraft, and of course, never flying under the influence. This is a list of precautions put together by the FAA. In addition, the FAA is planning on requiring all drones to be equipped with remote ID later this year which will provide the ability for drones to report their identification and location information. This has been met with skepticism and criticism. However, Bruce Simpson, a full-time promotor of drones and RC flying, has designed a new device utilizing a Raspberry Pi that drone operators can use to detect nearby aircraft.

Simpson calls his gadget the ADS-B alarm and has created it to help the drone community avoid any possible incidents and trouble involving nearby aircrafts. ADS-B is an acronym for automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast and allows aircrafts to wirelessly broadcast information such as GPS location, altitude, and velocity. Aircraft operators and ground air traffic control both use ADS-B to help safely orchestrate flight traffic. While there is a few exceptions, almost all modern aircrafts are equipped with ADS-B transponders.

Simpson's ADS-B alarm is powered by a Raspberry Pi and uses an RTL-SDR dongle for wireless reception. It can detect aircraft within a five to ten mile radius of a user’s location. When any aircraft is detected the device will make a beeping sound and display the aircraft’s approximate location on a small LCD screen. The electronics plus the LCD are all housed in a 3D printed enclosure with the overall device size being slightly larger than a walkie-talkie. The plan is to have the unit ready to release by the summer of this year. It will not be sold, but rather the instructions on how to build one will be available for anyone to use. This includes all the software, libraries, and STL files for the enclosure.

Simpson has been testing and optimizing the ADS-B alarm for over two years now and is confident it can help operators safely and responsibly operate their drones. For an overview of the device and example of it in action check out the video below.