Vision-based target pursuit by autonomous UAVs

拟议的研究计划采用一种飞行的四轴飞行器（UAV），广泛用于航空摄影和远程监视等应用，并开发利用机载视觉传感器自主探测、跟踪或拦截第二架飞行的四轴飞行器的新能力。该技术的应用实例包括保护敏感区域，如政府大楼或军事设施免受武器化无人机的攻击，或保护私人活动免受未经授权的航空摄影和媒体的录像。研究工作涉及辅助惯性导航、反馈控制和计算机视觉方面的先进理论，以及编码、传感器校准、参数整定和实验飞行测试方面的实际问题。这使得它成为培养下一代高技能工程师的绝佳平台，这些工程师对加拿大高科技部门和日益重要的机器人工业的成功至关重要。为这个项目开发的算法和知识将扩展并应用于与加拿大人有关的两个更复杂的应用。第一个扩展是自动探测和驱赶预定区域的鸟类。这项技术将对机场管理部门、油砂公司和农民产生极大的兴趣，它们可以防止危险的引擎鸟撞击，防止鸟类降落在尾矿池上，保护他们的农田。第二个扩展是为警察追车。众所周知，高速车辆追逐对司机、其他车辆和行人来说都是极其危险的。因为四轴飞行器既能低空飞行又能高速飞行，而且机动灵活，所以它可以轻松安全地跟踪逃跑的车辆，同时向执法部门报告其位置。

The proposed research program employs a flying quadcopter Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), widely used for application such as aerial photography and remote surveillance, and develops the novel capability of employing on-board vision sensors to autonomously detect and follow or intercept a second flying quadcopter UAV. Example applications of this technology include protecting sensitive areas such as government buildings or military installations from a weaponized UAV attack, or guarding private events from unauthorized aerial photography and videography by the media. The research work involves a mix of advanced theory in aided inertial navigation, feedback control and computer vision and practical issues in coding, sensor calibration, parameter tuning and experimental flight testing. This makes it an excellent platform for training the next generation of highly skilled engineers, who are critical for the success of Canada's high-tech sector and increasingly important robotics industry. The algorithms and knowledge developed for this project will be extended and applied to two more complex applications relevant for Canadians. The first extension is autonomously detecting and chasing away birds from pre-designated areas. This technology would be of great interest to airport authorities to prevent dangerous engine bird strikes, oil sands companies to keep birds from landing on tailings ponds, and farmers protecting their crop fields. The second extension is chasing cars for the police. High-speed vehicle chases are known to be extremely dangerous for the drivers, other cars and pedestrians. Because a quadcopter is capable of both low and high-speed flight and nimble maneuvering, it would be able to easily and safely follow a fleeing vehicle while reporting its position to law enforcement.