Collision detection using received signal strength in FANETs

Autonomous vehicles are important to execute missions without the need to put at risk people´s life. To achieve this goal, it is essential that these vehicles are endowed of a collision avoidance system. In this study we discuss the use of received signal strength (RSS) of beacons from a vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) as a way to detect dangerous approaches among autonomous vehicles. We extend this study to flying ad hoc networks (FANETs) as a way to provide obstacle avoidance in UAVs. Nowadays autonomous vehicles has the need to be connected, and consequently has wireless network devices forming vehicular networks like VANETs and flying ad hoc network as FANETs. It favors the use of signal strength of beacons as a way to detect dangerous approaches among autonomous vehicles. Initially we presented a study of signal strength variation in relation to the distance and further we investigated how speed influences the received signal strength. Finally we evaluate the results of applying the propagation path loss formula in obtained RSS values to estimate the distance.