A. Vasiljevs, V.Beliaev, W. Chicharro
Autonomous Robotics Technologies, Torres Vedras, Portugal
Keywords: GNSS denied navigation, Visual Odometry, Monocular SLAM, Autonomous UAVs.
In nowadays realities GNSS based navigation can’t be considered as robust and reliable source of coordinates especially operating UAVs within or close to contested areas as well as operating UAVs in mountain valleys and similar location where GNSS signals may be destructed by landscape specifics. TFlow Navigator offers an alternative navigation system for micro UAVs which is based on the Visual Odometry method and can be used as a GNSS backup system or as a main navigation system where GNSS is not available. The proposed solution uses single Long Wave Infra Red (LWIR) camera in conjunction with LiDAR, AHRS and preloaded Earth terrain model for a UAV position tracking. Now TFlow Navigator is actively used with ART VTOL platform in GNSS restricted areas for autonomous navigation and mapping. Practically achieved path tracking errors in good landscape conditions is ~3..5% of a traveled distance and an angular error is ~1..2% of a total heading. As an addition to the main function, TFlowNavigator able to provide precision landing on stationary or moving object. The LWIR sensor allow day and night flights, making ART capable of autonomous operations in active Electronic Warfare zones.