Optic flow-based vision system for autonomous 3D localization and control of small aerial vehicles

Farid Kendoul (1) , Isabelle Fantoni (2) , Kenzo Nonami (3)

1 RCL - Robotics and Control Laboratory
2 Heudiasyc - Heuristique et Diagnostic des Systèmes Complexes [Compiègne]
3 RCL - Robotics and Control Laboratory

The problem considered in this paper involves the design of a vision-based autopilot for small and micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The proposed autopilot is based on an optic flow-based vision system for autonomous localization and scene mapping, and a nonlinear control system for flight control and guidance. This paper focusses on the development of a real-time 3D vision algorithm for estimating optic flow, aircraft self-motion and depth map, using a low-resolution onboard camera and a low-cost Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). Our implementation is based on 3 Nested Kalman Filters (3NKF) and results in an efficient and robust estimation process. The vision and control algorithms have been implemented on a quadrotor UAV, and demonstrated in real-time flight tests. Experimental results show that the proposed vision-based autopilot enabled a small rotorcraft to achieve fully-autonomous flight using information extracted from optic flow.

Mots clés: UAV; Autonomous localization; Optic flow; Structure-From-Motion (SFM); Flight guidance and control; Visual SLAM

Domaines: Automatique / Robotique

Farid Kendoul, Isabelle Fantoni, Kenzo Nonami. Optic flow-based vision system for autonomous 3D localization and control of small aerial vehicles. Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 2009, 57 (6-7), pp.591-602. ⟨10.1016/j.robot.2009.02.001⟩. ⟨hal-00445972⟩