Remote Estimation of Target Height from Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Images
This paper focuses on how the height of a target can be swiftly estimated using images acquired by a digital camera installed into moving platforms, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). A pinhole camera model after distortion compensation was considered for this purpose since it does not need ex...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2020-11-01
|
| Series: | Remote Sensing |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/21/3602 |
| _version_ | 1797549076224409600 |
|---|---|
| author | Andrea Tonini Paula Redweik Marco Painho Mauro Castelli |
| author_facet | Andrea Tonini Paula Redweik Marco Painho Mauro Castelli |
| author_sort | Andrea Tonini |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper focuses on how the height of a target can be swiftly estimated using images acquired by a digital camera installed into moving platforms, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). A pinhole camera model after distortion compensation was considered for this purpose since it does not need extensive processing nor vanishing lines. The pinhole model has been extensively employed for similar purposes in past studies but mainly focusing on fixed camera installations. This study analyzes how to tailor the pinhole model for gimballed cameras mounted into UAVs, considering camera parameters and flight parameters. Moreover, it indicates a solution that foresees correcting only a few needed pixels to limit the processing overload. Finally, an extensive analysis was conducted to define the uncertainty associated with the height estimation. The results of this analysis highlighted interesting relationships between UAV-to-target relative distance, camera pose, and height uncertainty that allow practical exploitations of the proposed approach. The model was tested with real data in both controlled and uncontrolled environments, the results confirmed the suitability of the proposed method and outcomes of the uncertainty analysis. Finally, this research can open consumer UAVs to innovative applications for urban surveillance. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T15:08:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ebc4c303af5b41279e5ec23bceb1cb4d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T15:08:32Z |
| publishDate | 2020-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-ebc4c303af5b41279e5ec23bceb1cb4d2023-11-20T19:33:48ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922020-11-011221360210.3390/rs12213602Remote Estimation of Target Height from Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) ImagesAndrea Tonini0Paula Redweik1Marco Painho2Mauro Castelli3European Maritime Safety Agency, Surveillance Unit–Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems, Praça Europa 4, 1249-206 Lisbon, PortugalInstituto Dom Luiz, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisbon, PortugalNOVA Information Management School (NOVA IMS), Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Campus de Campolide, 1070-312 Lisbon, PortugalNOVA Information Management School (NOVA IMS), Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Campus de Campolide, 1070-312 Lisbon, PortugalThis paper focuses on how the height of a target can be swiftly estimated using images acquired by a digital camera installed into moving platforms, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). A pinhole camera model after distortion compensation was considered for this purpose since it does not need extensive processing nor vanishing lines. The pinhole model has been extensively employed for similar purposes in past studies but mainly focusing on fixed camera installations. This study analyzes how to tailor the pinhole model for gimballed cameras mounted into UAVs, considering camera parameters and flight parameters. Moreover, it indicates a solution that foresees correcting only a few needed pixels to limit the processing overload. Finally, an extensive analysis was conducted to define the uncertainty associated with the height estimation. The results of this analysis highlighted interesting relationships between UAV-to-target relative distance, camera pose, and height uncertainty that allow practical exploitations of the proposed approach. The model was tested with real data in both controlled and uncontrolled environments, the results confirmed the suitability of the proposed method and outcomes of the uncertainty analysis. Finally, this research can open consumer UAVs to innovative applications for urban surveillance.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/21/3602remote surveillancetarget heightUAVpinhole modelimage distortion compensationuncertainty analysis |
| spellingShingle | Andrea Tonini Paula Redweik Marco Painho Mauro Castelli Remote Estimation of Target Height from Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Images Remote Sensing remote surveillance target height UAV pinhole model image distortion compensation uncertainty analysis |
| title | Remote Estimation of Target Height from Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Images |
| title_full | Remote Estimation of Target Height from Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Images |
| title_fullStr | Remote Estimation of Target Height from Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Images |
| title_full_unstemmed | Remote Estimation of Target Height from Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Images |
| title_short | Remote Estimation of Target Height from Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Images |
| title_sort | remote estimation of target height from unmanned aerial vehicle uav images |
| topic | remote surveillance target height UAV pinhole model image distortion compensation uncertainty analysis |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/21/3602 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT andreatonini remoteestimationoftargetheightfromunmannedaerialvehicleuavimages AT paularedweik remoteestimationoftargetheightfromunmannedaerialvehicleuavimages AT marcopainho remoteestimationoftargetheightfromunmannedaerialvehicleuavimages AT maurocastelli remoteestimationoftargetheightfromunmannedaerialvehicleuavimages |