Three-dimensional-printed tapered cavity-backed flush-mountable wideband antenna for UAV

Abstract

A 3D-printed tapered cavity-backed flush-mountable wideband antenna for UAV applications is proposed. The antenna consists of a mono-cone and an exponentially tapered cavity, which are fabricated using 3D printing technology. Performance degradation caused by the resonance of a conventional cavity is reduced by tapering the cavity. The antenna has the overall dimensions of 224 mm x 224 mm x 34 mm. The measured 10-dB return loss bandwidth of the antenna is 24.4 GHz ranging from 1.3 GHz to 25.7 GHz (180%). The measured radiation pattern has an omnidirectional characteristic over the operating frequency band.