Intelligent Vision-based Autonomous Ship Landing of VTOL UAVs
Intelligent Vision-based Autonomous Ship Landing of VTOL UAVs
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DOI：
10.4050/jahs.68.022010
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发表时间：
2022-02
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影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Bochan Lee;Vishnu Saj;Moble Benedict;D. Kalathil
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文献类型：
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作者：
Bochan Lee;Vishnu Saj;Moble Benedict;D. Kalathil
本文讨论了一种基于智能视觉的舰载垂直起降无人机自主跟踪与降落控制方案，该方案不使用GPS信号。中心思想涉及海军直升机舰着陆程序的自动化，飞行员利用舰艇作为远程跟踪的视觉参考；然而，它指的是安装在大多数海军舰艇上的一种标准化的视觉提示，称为“地平线杆”，用于最后的接近和着陆阶段。这个想法是通过一个独特设计的集成了机器视觉的非线性控制器来实现的。视觉系统利用基于机器学习的目标检测进行远程船舶跟踪，并利用经典计算机视觉在最终进近和着陆阶段利用水平线估计飞机的相对位置和方向。非线性控制器根据视觉系统估计的信息运行，即使在存在不确定性的情况下也表现出鲁棒的跟踪性能。研制的自主舰船着舰系统在一架配备机载摄像头的四旋翼无人机上实现，并在模拟真实舰船甲板运动的移动甲板上成功演示了进近和着舰。进行了大量的模拟和飞行试验，以证明垂直着陆的安全性、跟踪能力和着陆精度。
The paper discusses an intelligent vision-based control solution for autonomous tracking and landing of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capable unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on ships without utilizing GPS signals. The central idea involves automating the Navy helicopter ship landing procedure where the pilot utilizes the ship as the visual reference for long-range tracking; however, it refers to a standardized visual cue installed on most Navy ships called the “horizon bar” for the final approach and landing phases. This idea is implemented using a uniquely designed nonlinear controller integrated with machine vision. The vision system utilizes machine learning based object detection for long-range ship tracking and classical computer vision for the estimation of aircraft relative position and orientation utilizing the horizon bar during the final approach and landing phases. The nonlinear controller operates based on the information estimated by the vision system and has demonstrated robust tracking performance even in the presence of uncertainties. The developed autonomous ship landing system was implemented on a quad-rotor UAV equipped with an onboard camera, and approach and landing were successfully demonstrated on a moving deck, which imitates realistic ship deck motions. Extensive simulations and flight tests were conducted to demonstrate vertical landing safety, tracking capability, and landing accuracy.