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I am currently taking part in a project in which I am building drones using Arduinos and Raspberry Pis, and I need to be able to measure the distance between the drones. After some research, I realized that many people use ultrasonic sensors.

However, I want to build a system that can measure the distance through walls and over moderate distances (up to 100 meters.) I figured that ultrasonic sensors won't have this range, and might not work through walls. I am honestly stumped with how to solve this problem.

Is there a way to do this, or is that just not a practical idea?

I want to have an accuracy of at least within half a meter.

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    \$\begingroup\$ GPS? This is one of those problems that's much harder than it sounds. \$\endgroup\$
    – pjc50
    Commented Jul 16, 2020 at 6:40
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    \$\begingroup\$ I thought about that, but the accuracy of GPS is not accurate enough. It's normally around 2 meters, but I need within half a meter. \$\endgroup\$
    – kunalbuty
    Commented Jul 16, 2020 at 6:45
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    \$\begingroup\$ Differential GPS will get you centimeter precision rapidly but you really need to be able to see most of the sky \$\endgroup\$
    – Jasen Слава Україні
    Commented Jul 16, 2020 at 6:45
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    \$\begingroup\$ second the diff gps. also, depending of the application, if your drones have cameras some computer vision could work \$\endgroup\$
    – Sclrx
    Commented Jul 16, 2020 at 6:50
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    \$\begingroup\$ Ideally the project would be indoors and outdoors, but we would settle for outdoors where we can see most of the sky. It will not always be in the same building, and should be able to work anywhere \$\endgroup\$
    – kunalbuty
    Commented Jul 16, 2020 at 7:23

2 Answers 2

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Have a look at Nordic’s distance measurement options - these use 2.4GHz signalling and may give the accuracy you need.

https://webinars.nordicsemi.com/measuring-distance-with-the-nordic-4

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At about 1 foot per nanosecond, you might use fast risetime LASER pulses, off corner_reflectors. This is how we precision_range the moon, using several square feet of optical reflectors put in place during Apollo.

You might also use swept_frequency radio waves, such as what planes use to determine altitude. You'd need a repeater on the collaborating drone. The phase shift sets the distance. Calibration of baseline delays would be needed.

The 800 and 900 MHZ ISM bands might work and might be legal.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Hitting the corner reflector and detecting the tiny return pulse with adequate bandwidth is ... left as an exercise for the reader :-) \$\endgroup\$
    – user16324
    Commented Jul 16, 2020 at 11:38

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