Design and Performance Evaluation of a Tethered Persistent Aerial Relay Node with Hybrid Power Failover for Disaster Communication

The Standard battery-operated UAVs face compelling limitations due to low energy density magnitude, commonly restricted to 20–40 minutes of flight. To assessing this endurance gap, this work details the design and assessment of a constant Aerial Relay Node (PARN). Combine together the 400Hz multidisciplinary flight analyses with accurate Electromagnetic (EM) modelling of a 2.4GHz micro strip patch antenna layout. To ensure high-precision station-keeping, the system integrates Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) GPS with Visual Inertial Odometry (VIO), effective centimeter-level accuracy ahead the capabilities of accepted flight controllers. The antenna system accomplishes a peak boresight gain of 10.3dBi and a return loss below -10dB; concurrently, azimuthal testing indicating a peak gain of 3.107dB with a cloverleaf layout, providing omnidirectional coverage over a 200m radius. This research gives a statistically backed layout for constant, reliable aerial relays, efficiently overcoming the flight time constraints of conventional disaster-response drones.