Abstract
In order to monitor and manage vessels in channels effectively, identification and tracking are very necessary. This work developed a maritime unmanned aerial vehicle (Mar-UAV) system equipped with a high-resolution camera and an Automatic Identification System (AIS). A multi-feature and multi-level matching algorithm using the spatiotemporal characteristics of aerial images and AIS information was proposed to detect and identify field vessels. Specifically, multi-feature information, including position, scale, heading, speed, etc., are used to match between real-time image and AIS message. Additionally, the matching algorithm is divided into two levels, point matching and trajectory matching, for the accurate identification of surface vessels. Through such a matching algorithm, the Mar-UAV system is able to automatically identify the vessel’s vision, which improves the autonomy of the UAV in maritime tasks. The multi-feature and multi-level matching algorithm has been employed for the developed Mar-UAV system, and some field experiments have been implemented in the Yangzi River. The results indicated that the proposed matching algorithm and the Mar-UAV system are very significant for achieving autonomous maritime supervision.
Highlights
As we know, UAV technology has been developed to be more independent and intelligent.Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have low cost, good flexibility, low risk and high efficiency.UAVs have been widely used in various tasks, such as modern maritime supervision [1,2], information collecting [3,4], search and rescue [5,6], environmental monitoring [7,8], exploration and mapping [9,10], etc.In typical maritime supervision, live monitoring from the UAV carrying a camera provides a broad and steady view and has excellent mobility
It is an important research direction to improve the autonomy of UAVs in current maritime supervision applications, especially for realizing the automatic recognition and tracking of targets based on unmanned aerial sensors [25]
The green + indicates that the vessel numbered 1 has no matching vessel in the Automatic Identification System (AIS) data because the minimum position r is larger than the threshold d
Summary
Supu Xiu 1 , Yuanqiao Wen 2,3, *, Haiwen Yuan 1 , Changshi Xiao 1,4 , Wenqiang Zhan 1,4 , Xiong Zou 1,4 , Chunhui Zhou 1,4 and Sayed Chhattan Shah 5.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
