Three-Dimensional Printed Helical Antenna Compatible With Rotary Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

In this study, a basic helical antenna compatible with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles aimed for 5.8GHz band is designed and manufactured by using a three-dimensional printer from Biopolymer Polylactic Acid material. After that, antennas are covered with self-adhesive aluminum tape, copper tape, and Carbon-based conductive spray paint, separately and become conductive. A copper plate reflector is common for all three prototypes. Manufacturing an antenna by this method is easily accessible, fast, and cheap. A Biopolymer Polylactic Acid-based antenna is lighter than a traditional copper wire one. And it provides flexibility in antenna dimensions compared to traditional wire ones. It is seen from simulations and measurements, that the copper tape-covered antenna has the best return loss values. But all three prototypes can be used on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.