Real-Time and 3D Vision for Autonomous Small and Micro Air Vehicles

Autonomous control of small and micro air
vehicles (SMAV) requires precise estimation of both vehicle
state and its surrounding environment. Small cameras, which
are available today at very low cost, are attractive sensors
for SMAV. 3D vision by video and laser scanning has distinct
advantages in that they provide positional information
relative to objects and environments, in which the vehicle
operates, that is critical to obstacle avoidance and mapping
of the environment. This paper presents work on real-time
3D vision algorithms for recovering motion and structure
from a video sequence, 3D terrain mapping from a laser
range finder onboard a small autonomous helicopter, and
sensor fusion of visual and GPS/INS sensors.