@article{GageikReinthalBenzetal.2014, author = {Gageik, Nils and Reinthal, Eric and Benz, Paul and Montenegro, Sergio}, title = {Complementary Vision based Data Fusion for Robust Positioning and Directed Flight of an Autonomous Quadrocopter}, doi = {10.5121/ijaia.2014.5501}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-113621}, year = {2014}, abstract = {The present paper describes an improved 4 DOF (x/y/z/yaw) vision based positioning solution for fully 6 DOF autonomous UAVs, optimised in terms of computation and development costs as well as robustness and performance. The positioning system combines Fourier transform-based image registration (Fourier Tracking) and differential optical flow computation to overcome the drawbacks of a single approach. The first method is capable of recognizing movement in four degree of freedom under variable lighting conditions, but suffers from low sample rate and high computational costs. Differential optical flow computation, on the other hand, enables a very high sample rate to gain control robustness. This method, however, is limited to translational movement only and performs poor in bad lighting conditions. A reliable positioning system for autonomous flights with free heading is obtained by fusing both techniques. Although the vision system can measure the variable altitude during flight, infrared and ultrasonic sensors are used for robustness. This work is part of the AQopterI8 project, which aims to develop an autonomous flying quadrocopter for indoor application and makes autonomous directed flight possible.}, language = {en} } @article{MontenegroAliGageik2014, author = {Montenegro, Sergio and Ali, Qasim and Gageik, Nils}, title = {A review on Distributed Control of Cooperating MINI UAVs}, doi = {10.5121/ijaia.2014.5401}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-113009}, year = {2014}, abstract = {Mini Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (MUAVs) are becoming popular research platform and drawing considerable attention, particularly during the last decade due to their multi-dimensional applications in almost every walk of life. MUAVs range from simple toys found at electronic supermarkets for entertainment purpose to highly sophisticated commercial platforms performing novel assignments like offshore wind power station inspection and 3D modelling of buildings. This paper presents an overview of the main aspects in the domain of distributed control of cooperating MUAVs to facilitate the potential users in this fascinating field. Furthermore it gives an overview on state of the art in MUAV technologies e.g. Photonic Mixer Devices (PMD) camera, distributed control methods and on-going work and challenges, which is the motivation for many researchers all over the world to work in this field.}, language = {en} } @article{GageikStrohmeierMontenegro2013, author = {Gageik, Nils and Strohmeier, Michael and Montenegro, Sergio}, title = {An Autonomous UAV with an Optical Flow Sensor for Positioning and Navigation}, series = {International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems}, journal = {International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems}, doi = {10.5772/56813}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-96368}, year = {2013}, abstract = {A procedure to control all six DOF (degrees of freedom) of a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) without an external reference system and to enable fully autonomous flight is presented here. For 2D positioning the principle of optical flow is used. Together with the output of height estimation, fusing ultrasonic, infrared and inertial and pressure sensor data, the 3D position of the UAV can be computed, controlled and steered. All data processing is done on the UAV. An external computer with a pathway planning interface is for commanding purposes only. The presented system is part of the AQopterI8 project, which aims to develop an autonomous flying quadrocopter for indoor application. The focus of this paper is 2D positioning using an optical flow sensor. As a result of the performed evaluation, it can be concluded that for position hold, the standard deviation of the position error is 10cm and after landing the position error is about 30cm.}, language = {en} }