Real-time Visual Tracking Using Geometric Active Contours for the Navigation and Control of UAVs

Abstract

Visual tracking is an important component in the navigation and control of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This paper is concerned with the visual tracking problem for the navigation and control of UAVs and focuses on real-time image processing methods. We review previous research based on geometric active contours which are automatic processes to track object boundaries in an image. Test results and some limitations of the previous tracking system are discussed. Then, a fast and robust implementation of the Chan-Vese active contour model is proposed to overcome these limitations.