3D Localization in Wireless Sensor Networks Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

A wireless sensor network (WSN) is designed to perform event detection, data collection, and reporting such data to a monitoring station. In many cases, it is necessary to know the location of sensor nodes to relate the detection of the event at a specific location. However, the geographical location of the sensor nodes in most applications can only be set after their deposition in the area of interest. Therefore, for the sensor nodes to know their location, it is necessary to use specific algorithms to solve the problem of discovering the geographical position of sensor nodes. This work addresses the problem of 3D localization in WSNs using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The UAV is equipped with GPS and it flies over the monitoring area broadcasting its geographical position. Thus, the sensor nodes are able to estimate their geographical position without being equipped with GPS receiver. Simulation results show that using an UAV leads to a smaller error in the calculation of geographic location when compared to solutions presented in the literature.