High Accuracy Ground Target Geo-location Using Autonomous Micro Aerial Vehicle Platforms

Abstract

This paper presents a method for high accuracy ground target localization using a Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV) equipped with a video camera sensor. The proposed method is based on a satellite or aerial image registration technique. The target geo-location is calculated by registering the ground target image taken from an on-board video camera with a georeferenced satellite image. This method does not require accurate knowledge of the aircraft position and attitude, therefore it is especially suitable for MAV platforms which do not have the capability to carry accurate sensors due to their limited payload weight and power resources. The paper presents results of a ground target geo-location experiment based on an image registration technique. The platform used is a MAV prototype which won the 3rd US-European Micro Aerial Vehicle Competition (MAV07). In the experiment a ground object was localized with an accuracy of 2.3 meters from a flight altitude of 70 meters. Nomenclature M AV Micro aerial vehicle s Image scale factor f Camera focal length I res Reference image resolution d MAV's ground altitude λ Ground object distance to the MAV x p , y p Pixel coordinates X i , Y i , Z i Inertial reference frame X v , Y v , Z v Vertical reference frame X b , Y b , Z b Body reference frame X g , Y g , Z g Gimbal reference frame X c , Y c , Z c Camera reference frame CCD Charge coupled cevice F OV Field of view

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