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A Perception Payload for Small-UAS Navigation in Structured Environments

Bharadwaj, Akshay S.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1533649419108963

Abstract Details

, Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (Engineering and Technology).
Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) are proving to be increasingly favorable in military and commercial applications. The range of applications include surveillance, aerial photography, environmental observations, search and rescue, mapping, forestry, agricultural survey, law enforcement among many. The small size unmanned multi-copters are highly capable and cost effective for low altitude operations and have extended access to dangerous and hazardous environments which were previously unavailable. Irrespective of the applications, a position and navigation solution are necessary to fly the UAS completely autonomous or even to manually control it easily. The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) has become one of the most dependable solution for position and navigation outdoors but does not perform well in the indoor environment as the signal is obstructed by the roof and the walls. Hence, there is a need for non-Global Positioning System (GPS) position and navigation solution methods for indoors. Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) and feature-based integrated navigation are two methods that can be used for this purpose, using various types of sensors like ranging sensors, cameras, and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). This thesis will focus on integrating depth imagery, Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) imagery and Long Wave Infrared (LWIR) imagery with an IMU to obtain and estimate of both the position and the map of the environment. In this discussion, the region of operation is restricted to structured environments and would be extended to unstructured environments in the future. This work will include preliminary flight test results from a small-size Blackout quadcopter operated in a structured indoor environment for maintenance purposes. The quadcopter has been equipped with a 3DR Pixhawk flight controller and an Odroid XU4 onboard computer running Ubuntu. The Robotics Operating System (ROS) is used to interface with and integrate all the sensors and control the flight controller. The optical sensors include a forward-pointing Occipital providing both SWIR imagery and depth information, and a Lepton LWIR camera to pick up heat signature image of objects in the environment. The latter is connected to the Odroid via a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI).
Maarten Uijt de Haag (Advisor)
Frank Van Graas (Committee Member)
Jim Zhu (Committee Member)
Martin J Mohlenkamp (Committee Member)
Electrical Engineering
UAS; SLAM; point cloud segmentation; thermal imagery for navigation; fast planar feature extraction; vision sensor stack for UAV

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Bharadwaj, A. S. (2018). A Perception Payload for Small-UAS Navigation in Structured Environments [Master's thesis, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1533649419108963

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Bharadwaj, Akshay. A Perception Payload for Small-UAS Navigation in Structured Environments. 2018. Ohio University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1533649419108963.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Bharadwaj, Akshay. "A Perception Payload for Small-UAS Navigation in Structured Environments." Master's thesis, Ohio University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1533649419108963

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.