---
title: "Flying mobile base stations\n    | Ubuntu"
description: Lime Microsystems builds open source hardware chips to enable any type
  of wireless communication, called software defined radio. Elre-robotics makes app-enabled
  open source drones with Snappy Ubuntu Core. Are you able to create flying mobile
  base stations? That is exactly what Lime did with an Erlecopter. Imagine emergency
  or military ad- […]
url: https://ubuntu.com/blog/flying-mobile-base-stations?format=md
keywords: index, follow
---

1. [Blog](https://ubuntu.com/blog)
2. Article

---

[Maarten Ectors](https://ubuntu.com/blog/author/maarten-ectors "More about Maarten Ectors")

9 July 2015

# Flying mobile base stations

[IoT](https://ubuntu.com/blog/tag/iot)
[robotics](https://ubuntu.com/blog/tag/robotics)
[Telco](https://ubuntu.com/blog/tag/telco)
[Telecommunications](https://ubuntu.com/blog/tag/telecommunications)

---

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[Lime Microsystems](http://www.limemicro.com/) builds open source hardware chips to enable any type of wireless communication, called software defined radio. [Elre-robotics](http://erlerobotics.com/blog/home-creative/) makes app-enabled open source drones with Snappy Ubuntu Core. Are you able to create flying mobile base stations? That is exactly what Lime did with an [Erlecopter](http://erlerobotics.com/blog/diy-drone/). Imagine emergency or military ad-hoc networks being set-up. However in most cases you will not be flying the network continuously. You could use a drone to transport a mini-base station with cables up on a small hill or a high building in rural areas. This would substantially lower costs of rolling out a mesh network of small antennas compared to installing big antennas.

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