4 research outputs found
Intelligent Vision-based Autonomous Ship Landing of VTOL UAVs
The paper discusses an intelligent vision-based control solution for
autonomous tracking and landing of Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) capable
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) on ships without utilizing GPS signal. The
central idea involves automating the Navy helicopter ship landing procedure
where the pilot utilizes the ship as the visual reference for long-range
tracking; however, refers to a standardized visual cue installed on most Navy
ships called the "horizon bar" for the final approach and landing phases. This
idea is implemented using a uniquely designed nonlinear controller integrated
with machine vision. The vision system utilizes machine learning-based object
detection for long-range ship tracking and classical computer vision for the
estimation of aircraft relative position and orientation utilizing the horizon
bar during the final approach and landing phases. The nonlinear controller
operates based on the information estimated by the vision system and has
demonstrated robust tracking performance even in the presence of uncertainties.
The developed autonomous ship landing system was implemented on a quad-rotor
UAV equipped with an onboard camera, and approach and landing were successfully
demonstrated on a moving deck, which imitates realistic ship deck motions.
Extensive simulations and flight tests were conducted to demonstrate vertical
landing safety, tracking capability, and landing accuracy
UAV or Drones for Remote Sensing Applications in GPS/GNSS Enabled and GPS/GNSS Denied Environments
The design of novel UAV systems and the use of UAV platforms integrated with robotic sensing and imaging techniques, as well as the development of processing workflows and the capacity of ultra-high temporal and spatial resolution data, have enabled a rapid uptake of UAVs and drones across several industries and application domains.This book provides a forum for high-quality peer-reviewed papers that broaden awareness and understanding of single- and multiple-UAV developments for remote sensing applications, and associated developments in sensor technology, data processing and communications, and UAV system design and sensing capabilities in GPS-enabled and, more broadly, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-enabled and GPS/GNSS-denied environments.Contributions include:UAV-based photogrammetry, laser scanning, multispectral imaging, hyperspectral imaging, and thermal imaging;UAV sensor applications; spatial ecology; pest detection; reef; forestry; volcanology; precision agriculture wildlife species tracking; search and rescue; target tracking; atmosphere monitoring; chemical, biological, and natural disaster phenomena; fire prevention, flood prevention; volcanic monitoring; pollution monitoring; microclimates; and land use;Wildlife and target detection and recognition from UAV imagery using deep learning and machine learning techniques;UAV-based change detection