Indoor Navigation for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Abstract

The ability for vehicles to navigate unknown environments is critical for autonomous operation. Mapping of a vehicle's environment and self-localization within that environment are especially difficult for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) due to the complexity of UAV attitude and motion dynamics, as well as interference from external influences such as wind. By using a stable vehicle platform and taking advantage of the geometric structure typical of most indoor environments, the complexity of the localization and mapping problem can be reduced. Interior wall and obstacle location can be measured using low-cost range sensors. Relative vehicle location within the mapped environment can then be determined. By alternating between mapping and localization, a vehicle can explore its environment autonomously. This paper examines available low-cost range sensors for suitability in solving the mapping and localization problem. A control system and navigation algorithm are developed to perform mapping of indoor environments and localization. Simulation and experimental results are provided to determine feasibility of the proposed approach to indoor navigation.

Combined laser and vision-aided inertial navigation for an indoor unmanned aerial vehicle

“…At each sample the scan to map distance is recorded and the pose with the lowest distance after a given number of samples is used as a measurement in the Kalman filter. The measurement covariance for this sample is calculated from the shape of the scan, as described in [3].…”

“…This work is building off previous research into laser-aided and vision-aided inertial navigation, in particular [11], [3]. In this paper, we describe visual and laser aided inertial navigation systems which perform SLAM and individually provide robust navigation solution in GPS denied environments.…”

“…Laser-based SLAM uses the obstacle profile returned from the laser range finder to simultaneously build a map of the environment and locate the UAV relative to the map [1], [2], [3]. The paradigm takes advantage of the prevalence of vertical surfaces in man-made indoor structures, and recent advances have extended the technique to full three dimensions [4], [5], [6].…”

Ultrasonic and Infrared Sensors Performance in a Wireless Obstacle Detection System

“…In addition, the ability to gather information about the scene of action, mapping and localization, make the ultrasonic sensor suitable in detecting the obstacles [4]. Furthermore, a ultrasonic sensor can detect all types of obstacle (e.g., metal, wooden based object, concrete wall, plastics, rubber based product, transparent object, etc.)…”

Indoor Exploration Using a μUAV and a Spherical Geometry Based Visual System

“…Samir Bouabdallah and R of an UAV based on a quadrotor configuration. To achieve autonomy, the UAV needs a navigation system, and many authors proposed several solutions for indoor navig tion systems [10][11][12 also for map the environment. Active s combined with visual elements avoidance and simple navigation Grzonka et al [15], quadrotor based on LIDAR technology.…”