Aerial geodetic total station platform for precise active positioning in GNSS-degraded environments

Abstract

One of the main applications of UAVs (Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles) is precise mapping; however, most of the studies are specialized either on rapid-mapping without focusing on characteristic point localization, or point positioning without concentrating upon the real-time or high accuracy. In this study, an active localization method for GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System)-degraded environments is proposed using a custom-built UAV as an aerial geodetic total station platform. The UAV equipped with an RTK (Real-time-Kinematics)-GNSS receiver and an optimized gimbal that carries an optical sensor and a laser range-finder, is able to autonomously detect, track and localize fiducial targets, using the UAV's orientation and position, exporting their coordinates in WGS 84 geodetic reference system during the flight. The system has been validated with a significant number of experiments in various environments with increasing difficulty, providing a three-dimensional error in a range of 4–15 cm.