The Starlink Robot: A Platform and Dataset for Mobile Satellite Communication

2025-06-24

AI Summary

Empirical understanding of satellite communication performance on mobile devices under dynamic motion and environmental occlusion remains lacking. Method: We present the first mobile robotic platform integrated with a Starlink terminal, equipped with an upward-facing camera, LiDAR, and IMU to enable millisecond-accurate, multi-modal synchronization of motion states, 3D environmental context, and communication metrics (e.g., RSSI, latency, throughput). Contribution/Results: This work provides the first systematic characterization of satellite link performance—across attitude, velocity, and occlusion conditions—in realistic mobile scenarios, enabling dynamic connection prediction and motion-aware communication protocol design. We open-source a high-quality multimodal dataset covering diverse motion patterns (constant velocity, turning, acceleration/deceleration) and representative occlusions (buildings, vegetation, tunnels), along with the corresponding hardware/software platform. This resource establishes foundational support for optimizing satellite communication in emerging mobile terminals—including smartphones, UAVs, and autonomous vehicles.

Technology Category

• Intelligent Robots: Multimodal Perception & Sensor Fusion
• Application Domains: Mobility, Driving & Flight
• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Optimization of Spatio-temporal Systems

Application Category

• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Web performance, measurement, and characterization
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Web evaluation methodologies and metrics
• Security and Privacy: Large-scale security measurements

Abstract

The integration of satellite communication into mobile devices represents a paradigm shift in connectivity, yet the performance characteristics under motion and environmental occlusion remain poorly understood. We present the Starlink Robot, the first mobile robotic platform equipped with Starlink satellite internet, comprehensive sensor suite including upward-facing camera, LiDAR, and IMU, designed to systematically study satellite communication performance during movement. Our multi-modal dataset captures synchronized communication metrics, motion dynamics, sky visibility, and 3D environmental context across diverse scenarios including steady-state motion, variable speeds, and different occlusion conditions. This platform and dataset enable researchers to develop motion-aware communication protocols, predict connectivity disruptions, and optimize satellite communication for emerging mobile applications from smartphones to autonomous vehicles. The project is available at https://github.com/StarlinkRobot.

Problem

• Study satellite communication performance during mobile device movement
• Analyze impact of environmental occlusion on Starlink connectivity
• Develop motion-aware protocols for mobile satellite applications

Innovation

• Mobile robotic platform with Starlink satellite internet
• Multi-modal dataset with synchronized communication metrics
• Motion-aware protocols for satellite connectivity optimization