Micro UAV Collision Avoidance

摘要

A range image for micro UAV (unmanned air vehicle) collision avoidance is derived by processing a sequence of conventional images from a single camera on board the UAV. The range image will warn of looming collisions immediately ahead and also provide the 3-D situational awareness over a wide field of view needed for semi-autonomous or autonomous operation of the UAV. This single-camera technique is potentially applicable for other robotic vehicles that may not be large enough for two-camera stereo. The range image is generated by tracking the motion of scene detail along optic flow lines. Performance is estimated in terms of the minimum and maximum ranges of scene detail that can be sensed as a function of its position within the field of view.