UAV-MAG v.1.1

November 12, 2019
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UAV-MAG is a triaxial vector fluxgate magnetometer developed on demand to be used as an on-board magnetometer for magnetic field mapping using a small sized UAV (e.g. DJI Mavic).

Left: sensor box, right: UAV-MAG electronics box with navigation module on top…
Block diagram of the UAV-MAG

Two units form a set which can be used to effectively map magnetic anomalies. First unit is used on-board the UAV, the second serves as a base-station providing compensation of diurnal variations of the Earth’s magnetic field. The sensor cable is approximately 2.2 m long and serves as a “boom” in the drone configuration. Small wing improves the stability of the sensor during the flight. Both units can be used as a precise laboratory fluxgate magnetometers for general applications. The data can be either extracted from the SD card or accessed through USB or 3V3 serial interfaces.

Summary of UAV-MAG parameters is listed below:

UAV-MAG next to the DJI Mavic, with control unit connected. The UAV-MAG electronics is in the black box next to the NASA label…on top of it there is a dedicated 3-cell Li-Poly accumulator and GPS/GLONASS module
UAV-MAG Flying…
Ready to fly…
The sensor head consists of two precise dual-axes flat-ring-core fluxgate sensors mounted on a stable support. There is also a temperature sensor embedded, so off-line compensation of temperature effects is possible.
The electronics is a stack of two PCBs, there is a little OLED display added on the right side which currently indicates the actual power supply voltage (recent request from the users…)
UAV-MAG with more rigid sensor cable (the previous cable got extremely twisted during flights in Australia)

Till now the UAV-MAG has been successfully used on various locations in the Czech Republic and abroad (e.g. Odessa Meteor Crater – USA, Tunguska event place – Russia, Snowy Mountains – Australia)

For more information please contact: Vojtěch Petrucha