Abstract
This paper proposes the design and development of an on-board autonomous visual tracking system (AVTS) for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). A prototype of the proposed system has been implemented in MATLAB/ Simulink for simulation purposes. The proposed system contains GPS/INS sensors, a gimbaled camera, a multi-level autonomous visual tracking algorithm, a ground stationary target (GST) or ground moving target (GMT) state estimator, a camera control algorithm, a UAV guidance algorithm, and an autopilot. The on-board multi-level autonomous visual tracking algorithm acquires the video frames from the on-board camera and calculates the GMT pixel position in the video frame. The on-board GMT state estimator receives the GMT pixel position from the multi-level autonomous visual tracking algorithm and estimates the current position and velocity of the GMT with respect to the UAV. The on-board non-linear UAV guidance law computes the UAV heading velocity rates and sends them to the autopilot to steer the UAV in the desired path. The on-board camera control law computes the control command and sends it to the camera's gimbal controller to keep the GMT in the camera's field of view. The UAV guidance law and camera control law have been integrated for continuous tracking of the GMT. The on-board autopilot is used for controlling the UAV trajectory. The simulation of the proposed system was tested with a flight simulator and the UAV's reaction to the GMT was observed. The simulated results prove that the proposed system tracks a GST or GMT effectively.
Highlights
Unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) are increasingly used for various purposes around the world
A radar has been used as the prime source of surveillance for ground moving target (GMT) tracking; the on-board camera of an small unmanned aerial vehicles (SUAVs) can be utilized for GMT tracking purposes
The main drawbacks of the existing methodology are: –– the radar weight constraint, since it is not feasible to put a radar in a unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV); –– the high cost of the radar for surveillance and GMT tracking; –– longer time required for the operator to perform the operations and requirements; –– on-ground image tracking software controlled by the ground control station (GCS); –– difficulties in detecting when a GMT moves out of the frame or is not visible due to occlusions
Summary
Unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) are increasingly used for various purposes around the world. LUAVs are fixed-wing aircraft with 4 to 10 feet of wing span, 10 to 50 pounds of payload, and 10 to 12 hours of operational time. These LUAVs use a catapult for take-off and a skyhook for recovery. SUAVs or MAVs are fixed-wing aircraft with less than 5 feet of wing span, less than 10 pounds of payload and up to a couple of hours of operational time. These SUAVs do not require a runway, catapult or skyhook for take-off and recovery, since they are typically battery powered, hand launched, and belly landed. The main objective is to design and develop an efficient on-board AVTS for SUAVs
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