Visual-guided perching of quadrotors

• Main Author: Chong, Shi Kang
• Other Authors: Low Kin Huat
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Aeronautical engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/64957
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

A quadcopter is a form of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) which requires no pilot on board. This form of drone provides various applications, such as military surveillance, event coverage and so forth. However, one main concern arises, which involves the low operational flight time of these quadcopters. As such, a need for reduction of unnecessary flight time is required. This can be solved through perching of a quadcopter in order to reduce battery usage when not required, as compared to hovering in place. This report provides an attempt in successful perching of a quadcopter, by focusing on the aspect of vision-guided perching. This is done using a LabView platform, in order to utilize its vision-based functions to effectively identify a suitable perching target. Additionally, an insight into the Tau theory, which was employed by both animals and humans alike, was also considered in assisting the perching operation. The experimental results obtained provided an optimal method of object identification, which would serve as a platform for future studies. A means of obtaining the relevant parameters within the LabView code for improving perching capabilities was also devised. However, further modifications to the code are required for improvements in scaling detection as well as implementing a landing strategy.