PNIPU: Puppeteer Digital control system for fiber-optic drones

2025: Creation of a Fiber Optic UAV Control System

Scientists Perm Polytechnic have developed a digital control system fiber-optic drones at a distance of more than 25 km. The university announced this on June 23, 2025.

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Фото: PNIPU

During hostilities, fiber-optic unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly used. The fiber provides protection against electronic suppression and interception of data, which is critical for special applications of drones in the RWT zone and at industrial facilities. According to statistics, only 1 out of 6 such BLPAs reach the target, and the rest tear the fiber, overcoming only 1-2 km. Recent experiments by PNIPU scientists have revealed that the problem is in the coil on which the fiber optic cable is wound. Due to its irregular structure, micro-bends and breaks of the optical fiber occur. Scientists of the Perm Polytechnic University have developed a domestic control system for fiber-optic UAVs, which not only minimizes bends and prevents cable termination, but will also be able to transmit a signal for 25 km.

Conventional drones are controlled via radio (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular) or autonomously (via GPS). Fiber-optic UAVs use thin fiber-optic cable instead of radio waves, which is unwound from the coil on the drone. It is resistant to electromagnetic influences, which allows you to protect the signal from interference and jamming, and is able to transmit video and commands without delay at high speed.

Fiber-optic UAVs come in several forms. Underwater - for reconnaissance and repair of underwater communications. Intelligence - military drones resistant to electronic warfare. Industrial - for inspection of hazardous facilities, for example, nuclear power plants. As of June 2025, especially in the war zone, fiber optic devices of Chinese manufacturers, or Russian analogues similar to them in design, are mainly actively used.

The control of such UAVs is as follows: a drone with a coil inside rises into the air, automatically unwinding the cable through which the operator controls it. The problem is that due to the wrong fiber unwinding system, bends and signal losses occur, and in some cases breaks.

Students and graduates of the Perm Polytechnic University have developed a digital system for controlling and transmitting data through an optical fiber for UAVs under the code "Puppeteer." It allows you to control drones at a distance of up to 25 km. Note here that coil is designed with smooth unwinding system. This does not introduce bending losses into the optical fiber and does not allow it to break off.

• The Puppeteer project was launched as an attempt to improve the reliability of fiber-optic UAV control systems. Our team has created its own coil design and its own software. The system consists of two parts: an air module built inside and a ground control station. The latter has two versions: a mobile and a PC module that allows you to connect to a laptop/tablet. In addition, we used new composite materials (carbon fiber manufactured by PNIPU) in the housings of coils and UAVs, - comments Yury Konin, Junior Researcher, Department of General Physics, PNIPU, Candidate of Technical Sciences.

The technology created by PNIPU scientists increases the efficiency of UAVs in areas subject to electronic warfare. The developed coil design allows you to move more maneuverably at high speed when controlling drones from the first person, covering up to 25 km. Small-scale production of communication systems has already been established, potential buyers have been found. The created UAV control system is tested at the training ground for further use in the RWT zone.

In 2025, it is planned to scale production, expand the range of coils and import substitution of electronic boards. Scientists are working on a second version of the software, which will implement night vision support.