Inspection of Pole-Like Structures Using a Visual-Inertial Aided VTOL Platform with Shared Autonomy
This paper presents an algorithm and a system for vertical infrastructure inspection using a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle and shared autonomy. Inspecting vertical structures such as light and power distribution poles is a difficult task that is time-consuming, dangero...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2015-09-01
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| Series: | Sensors |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/15/9/22003 |
| _version_ | 1798035233487978496 |
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| author | Inkyu Sa Stefan Hrabar Peter Corke |
| author_facet | Inkyu Sa Stefan Hrabar Peter Corke |
| author_sort | Inkyu Sa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper presents an algorithm and a system for vertical infrastructure inspection using a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle and shared autonomy. Inspecting vertical structures such as light and power distribution poles is a difficult task that is time-consuming, dangerous and expensive. Recently, micro VTOL platforms (i.e., quad-, hexa- and octa-rotors) have been rapidly gaining interest in research, military and even public domains. The unmanned, low-cost and VTOL properties of these platforms make them ideal for situations where inspection would otherwise be time-consuming and/or hazardous to humans. There are, however, challenges involved with developing such an inspection system, for example flying in close proximity to a target while maintaining a fixed stand-off distance from it, being immune to wind gusts and exchanging useful information with the remote user. To overcome these challenges, we require accurate and high-update rate state estimation and high performance controllers to be implemented onboard the vehicle. Ease of control and a live video feed are required for the human operator. We demonstrate a VTOL platform that can operate at close-quarters, whilst maintaining a safe stand-off distance and rejecting environmental disturbances. Two approaches are presented: Position-Based Visual Servoing (PBVS) using an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) and estimator-free Image-Based Visual Servoing (IBVS). Both use monocular visual, inertia, and sonar data, allowing the approaches to be applied for indoor or GPS-impaired environments. We extensively compare the performances of PBVS and IBVS in terms of accuracy, robustness and computational costs. Results from simulations Sensors 2015, 15 22004 and indoor/outdoor (day and night) flight experiments demonstrate the system is able to successfully inspect and circumnavigate a vertical pole. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T20:55:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2578846785c246bf84ea5768c76843c0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T20:55:24Z |
| publishDate | 2015-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-2578846785c246bf84ea5768c76843c02022-12-22T04:03:41ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202015-09-01159220032204810.3390/s150922003s150922003Inspection of Pole-Like Structures Using a Visual-Inertial Aided VTOL Platform with Shared AutonomyInkyu Sa0Stefan Hrabar1Peter Corke2Science and Engineering Faculty, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane 4000, AustraliaCSIRO Digital Productivity, Brisbane 4069, AustraliaScience and Engineering Faculty, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane 4000, AustraliaThis paper presents an algorithm and a system for vertical infrastructure inspection using a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle and shared autonomy. Inspecting vertical structures such as light and power distribution poles is a difficult task that is time-consuming, dangerous and expensive. Recently, micro VTOL platforms (i.e., quad-, hexa- and octa-rotors) have been rapidly gaining interest in research, military and even public domains. The unmanned, low-cost and VTOL properties of these platforms make them ideal for situations where inspection would otherwise be time-consuming and/or hazardous to humans. There are, however, challenges involved with developing such an inspection system, for example flying in close proximity to a target while maintaining a fixed stand-off distance from it, being immune to wind gusts and exchanging useful information with the remote user. To overcome these challenges, we require accurate and high-update rate state estimation and high performance controllers to be implemented onboard the vehicle. Ease of control and a live video feed are required for the human operator. We demonstrate a VTOL platform that can operate at close-quarters, whilst maintaining a safe stand-off distance and rejecting environmental disturbances. Two approaches are presented: Position-Based Visual Servoing (PBVS) using an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) and estimator-free Image-Based Visual Servoing (IBVS). Both use monocular visual, inertia, and sonar data, allowing the approaches to be applied for indoor or GPS-impaired environments. We extensively compare the performances of PBVS and IBVS in terms of accuracy, robustness and computational costs. Results from simulations Sensors 2015, 15 22004 and indoor/outdoor (day and night) flight experiments demonstrate the system is able to successfully inspect and circumnavigate a vertical pole.http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/15/9/22003aerial roboticspole inspectionvisual servoing, shared autonomy |
| spellingShingle | Inkyu Sa Stefan Hrabar Peter Corke Inspection of Pole-Like Structures Using a Visual-Inertial Aided VTOL Platform with Shared Autonomy Sensors aerial robotics pole inspection visual servoing, shared autonomy |
| title | Inspection of Pole-Like Structures Using a Visual-Inertial Aided VTOL Platform with Shared Autonomy |
| title_full | Inspection of Pole-Like Structures Using a Visual-Inertial Aided VTOL Platform with Shared Autonomy |
| title_fullStr | Inspection of Pole-Like Structures Using a Visual-Inertial Aided VTOL Platform with Shared Autonomy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Inspection of Pole-Like Structures Using a Visual-Inertial Aided VTOL Platform with Shared Autonomy |
| title_short | Inspection of Pole-Like Structures Using a Visual-Inertial Aided VTOL Platform with Shared Autonomy |
| title_sort | inspection of pole like structures using a visual inertial aided vtol platform with shared autonomy |
| topic | aerial robotics pole inspection visual servoing, shared autonomy |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/15/9/22003 |
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