Research in Image-Based Cooperation for Autonomous Conventional Aerial Vehicles

Abstract

The activity discussed intends to increase the capability of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles by incorporating information from a vision sensor into the usual data stream for sensing and control. A particular interest is keeping the implementation simple and the amount of information minimal. It is shown that using only the velocity direction in the camera frame leads to significant improvement in the accuracy of the navigation state estimator. With this improvement, it is then possible to implement on-line parameter estimation techniques to make the controller robust against (a) large modelling errors in the dynamics used to derive the nominal autopilots, and (b) loss of GPS information during flight. As the eventual goal is cooperative activity, the effort also looked at using minimal vision information to follow a lead vehicle, and implementations of cooperative observations of ground targets.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 31, 2008
Accession Number
ADA586705

Entities

People

  • David F. Chichka

Organizations

  • George Washington University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Sensors
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accelerometers
  • Accuracy
  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Data Fusion
  • Estimators
  • Fixed Wing Aircraft
  • Global Positioning Systems
  • Inertial Measurement Units
  • Inertial Navigation
  • Inertial Navigation Systems
  • Kalman Filters
  • Measurement
  • Navigation
  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
  • Unmanned Systems
  • Vehicles

Readers

  • Computer Vision.
  • Robotics and Automation.
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Autonomy
  • Autonomy - Autonomous System Control
  • Space
  • Space - Spacecraft Maneuvers