XBee Latency Analysis for Drone Mounted Machine Control over Wireless Communication Channels

In this paper, a method for the study XBee latency is researched. Study of an XBee radio link is important when considering machine control over wireless. Furthermore, knowledge of an XBee latency probability distribution is useful in the simulation of machine control over wireless. In this research, a camera gimble, typical of those used by expert observers with drones was proposed as the machine control activity. The test bed used was created using two XBee IEEE 802.15.4 MaxStream modules in a point to point configuration. In drone mounted machine control over an XBee channel a controller sends command messages to a flying drone. Lower latency in camera control yields shorter reaction times for camera operators and a more comfortable operation experience for untrained expert observers.