10 accepted papers
In this paper, we propose a resource-efficient approach to provide an autonomous UAV with an on-board perception method to detect safe, hazard-free landing sites during flights over complex 3D terrain. We aggregate 3D measurements acquired from a sequence of monocular images by a Structure-from-Moti…
While optical cameras are ubiquitous in robotics, some robots can sense the world in several sections of the electromagnetic spectrum simultaneously, which can extend their capabilities in fundamental ways. For instance, many fixed-wing UAVs carry both optical and thermal imaging cameras, potentiall
In this paper, we propose a visual-inertial framework able to efficiently estimate the camera poses of a non-rigid trinocular baseline for long-range depth estimation on-board a fast moving aerial platform. The estimation of the time-varying baseline is based on relative inertial measurements, a pho…
Use of low-cost depth sensors, such as a stereo camera setup with illuminators, is of particular interest for numerous applications ranging from robotics and transportation to mixed and augmented reality. The ability to quantify noise is crucial for these applications, e.g., when the sensor is used…
This paper proposes a computationally efficient method to estimate the time-varying relative pose between two visual-inertial sensor rigs mounted on the flexible wings of a fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The estimated relative poses are used to generate highly accurate depth maps in real-…
Full autonomy for fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) requires the capability to autonomously detect potential landing sites in unknown and unstructured terrain, allowing for self-governed mission completion or handling of emergency situations. In this letter, we propose a perception system a
Achieving accurate, high-rate pose estimates from proprioceptive and/or exteroceptive measurements is the first step in the development of navigation algorithms for agile mobile robots such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). In this paper, we propose a decoupled Graph-Optimization based Multi-Senso…
We propose a novel scoring concept for visual place recognition based on nearest neighbor descriptor voting and demonstrate how the algorithm naturally emerges from the problem formulation. Based on the observation that the number of votes for matching places can be evaluated using a binomial distri…
An increasing number of robotic systems feature multiple inertial measurement units (IMUs). Due to competing objectives-either desired vicinity to the center of gravity when used in controls, or an unobstructed field of view when integrated in a sensor setup with an exteroceptive sensor for ego-moti
Accurate and robust real-time map generation onboard of a fixed-wing UAV is essential for obstacle avoidance, path planning, and critical maneuvers such as autonomous take-off and landing. Due to the computational constraints, the required robustness and reliability, it remains a challenge to deploy…