Future robotic space missions will employ a precision soft-landing capability that will enable exploration of previously inaccessible sites that have strong scientific significance. To enable this capability, a fully autonomous onboard system that identifies and avoids hazardous features such as steep slopes and large rocks is required. Such a system will also provide greater functionality in unstructured terrain to unmanned aerial vehicles. This paper describes an algorithm for landing hazard avoidance based on images from a single moving camera. The core of the algorithm is an efficient application of structure from motion to generate a dense elevation map of the landing area. Hazards are then detected in this map and a safe landing site is selected. The algorithm has been implemented on an autonomous helicopter testbed and demonstrated four times resulting in the first autonomous landing of an unmanned helicopter in unknown and hazardous terrain.


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Vision guided landing of an an autonomous helicopter in hazardous terrain


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    International Conference on Robotics and Automation ; 2005 ; Barcelona, Spain


    Publication date :

    2005-04-18


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English





    Research on an autonomous vision-guided helicopter

    Amidi, Omead / Mesaki, Yuji / Kanade, Takeo | NTRS | 1994


    Research on an Autonomous Vision-Guided Helicopter

    O. Amidi / Y. Mesaki / T. Kanade | NTIS | 1994


    Research on an autonomous vision-guided helicopter

    Amidi, O. / Mesaki, Y. / Kanade, T. | Tema Archive | 1994


    Research on an Autonomous Vision-Guided Helicopter

    Amidi, O. / Mesaki, Y. / Kanade, T. et al. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 1994