The usage of drones is steadily increasing as drones are becoming more available and useful to the general public, but drone usage also leads to problems as for example airports have had to shutdown due to drone sightings. It has become clear that a counter-drone system must be in place to neutralize intruding drones. However, neutralizing a drone is not an easy task, the risk of causing collateral damage and interfering with other radio systems must be highly considered when designing a counter-drone system. In this thesis a set of consumer drones was selected based on market popularity. By studying the wireless communication links of the selected drones a set of drone neutralization methods was identified. For each neutralization method a set of jamming and spoofing techniques was selected from current research. The techniques was used in practise by subjecting the drones to the techniques in a series of drone behaviour experiments. The results was used to evaluate the techniques in four criteria based on avoiding collateral damage, mitigating radio interference, identification requirement and handling multiple intruding drones. The evaluation was then summarized to discuss suitable drone neutralization methods and jamming & spoofing techniques. The results showed that there are neutralization methods that could potentially avoid causing col- lateral damage for certain drones. A full-band barrage jamming technique was shown to best the best performing based on the evaluation criteria, but was also the technique that theoretically induced the most radio interference. Furthermore, drones operating in way-point mode can only be neutralized using a GNSS jamming or spoofing neutralization method. Also using a GPS spoofing neutralization method was shown to be difficult to implement in practise. / Populariteten av att flyga drönare ökar stadigt i och med att drönartekniken blir mer tillgänglig och an- vändbart för allmänheten. Men användningen av drönare leder också till problem när till exempel flyg- platser har varit tvungna att stänga av på grund av drönar observationer. Det har blivit tydligt att ett anti-drönarsystem måste vara på plats för att neutralisera inkräktande drönare. Men att neutralisera en drönare är inte en enkel uppgift, risken för att orsaka sido-skador på personer, byggander eller objekt; eller störa andra radiosystem måste beaktas starkt när man utformar ett anti-drönarsystem. I detta examensarbete valdes en uppsättning konsumentdrönare ut baserat på marknadens popularitet. Genom att studera de trådlösa kommunikationslänkarna för de valda drönarna identifierades en uppsättning av drönar-neutraliseringsmetoder. För varje neutraliseringsmetod valdes en uppsättning av störnings- och spoofing-tekniker ut från aktuell forskning. Teknikerna användes i praktiken genom att utsätta drönarna för teknikerna i en serie drönar-beteendeexperiment. Resultaten användes sedan för att utvärdera teknikerna i fyra utvärderingskriterier baserade på att undvika sido-skador, mildra radiostörningar, identifieringsbehov och hantering av flera inkräktande drönare. Utvärderingen sammanfattades sedan för att diskutera lämpliga drönar-neutraliseringsmetoder och störnings- spoofing-tekniker. Resultaten visade att det finns neutraliseringsmetoder som potentiellt kan undvika att orsaka sido- skador eller radio-störningar för vissa typer av drönare. En full-bands störningsteknik visade sig vara bäst presterande baserat på utvärderingskriterierna, men var också den teknik som teoretiskt inducerade mest radiostörningar. Dessutom visades det att drönare som flyger i navigeringsläge endast kan neutraliseras med hjälp av en GNSS-störnings- eller spoofing metoder. Att använda en GPS-spoofing metod visade sig också vara svår att implementera i praktiken.

<p dir="ltr">This dissertation presents the design, development, and testing environment of a low-cost, self-built ground based Counter Unmanned Aerial or Aircraft Vehicle (CUAV) system aimed at providing effective aerial security solutions in resource-limited environments. The kinetic CUAV technique was selected and identified for the current study as it is the most feasible, low-cost and reusable mitigation path as last-resort defense. Utilizing commonly available materials, including parts from online retailers and hardware stores, and incorporating a self-made pneumatic system with a reusable 3D-printed projectile and interchangeable parts design. This study explores the feasibility of cost-effective drone defense and introduces a short-range accuracy metric to evaluate the system’s trajectory behavior. Through rigorous indoor testing in Purdue University Hangar 4, the research evaluates the system's performance in terms of projectile height, range, and accuracy under various environmental conditions. A 90 degrees field of view of pneumatic launcher was tested with a small error margin comparison table to highlight on areas for potential technical refinement. TPU filament was found to be the best material for this study, with 10% infill, printing temperature in 225°C (437°F), and 70 mm/s printing speed settings for the 3D-printed projectile (4.16a). These findings in Figures 4.10, 4.11, 4.12, 4.13 will significantly advance the research of low-cost drone defense technologies by providing empirical evidence on material and design choices that will impact the system performance. Findings indicate that the system’s performance is affected by the climate temperatures, which influences its consistency in different settings. This offers practical implications for enhancing security measures against unauthorized drones using similar technology. The study fills a significant gap in current drone defense technologies with kinetic apprehension by proving that effective solutions can be both affordable and accessible. This work not only contributes to the advancement of counter drone technology but also encourages ongoing design innovation in the field, paving the way for further research and development into scalable and adaptable drone defense systems.</p>