• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.24-30
• /
• 2016

The accuracy of small and low-cost CCD cameras is insufficient to provide data for precisely tracking unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This study shows how a quad rotor UAV can hover on a human targeted tracking object by using data from a CCD camera rather than imprecise GPS data. To realize this, quadcopter UAVs need to recognize their position and posture in known environments as well as unknown environments. Moreover, it is necessary for their localization to occur naturally. It is desirable for UAVs to estimate their position by solving uncertainty for quadcopter UAV hovering, as this is one of the most important problems. In this paper, we describe a method for determining the altitude of a quadcopter UAV using image information of a moving object like a walking human. This method combines the observed position from GPS sensors and the estimated position from images captured by a fixed camera to localize a UAV. Using the a priori known path of a quadcopter UAV in the world coordinates and a perspective camera model, we derive the geometric constraint equations that represent the relation between image frame coordinates for a moving object and the estimated quadcopter UAV's altitude. Since the equations are based on the geometric constraint equation, measurement error may exist all the time. The proposed method utilizes the error between the observed and estimated image coordinates to localize the quadcopter UAV. The Kalman filter scheme is applied for this method. Its performance is verified by a computer simulation and experiments.

• Journal of Cadastre & Land InformatiX
• /
• v.51 no.2
• /
• pp.185-198
• /
• 2021

Researches using UAVs are being actively conducted in the field of quickly constructing 3D spatial information in small areas. In this study, without using ground control points, a stereo camera was mounted on a UAV to collect images and quickly construct three-dimensional positions through image matching, bundle adjustment, and the determination of a scale factor. Through the experiment, when bundle adjustment was performed using stereo constraints, the root mean square error was 1.475m, and when absolute orientation was performed in consideration of a scale, it was found to be 0.029m. Through this, it was found that when using the data processing method of a UAV equipped with a stereo camera proposed in this study, high-accuracy 3D spatial information can be constructed without using ground control points.

• Smart Media Journal
• /
• v.6 no.4
• /
• pp.65-71
• /
• 2017

In this paper, we propose a design method for the construction of LTE-based small unmanned aerial vehicle control system to quickly and reliably collect multiple small unmanned aerial vehicle position information simultaneously flying all over the country. In particular, the main requirements are the network (N/W), hardware (H/ W), software(SW), Database(DB), development architecture, and business needs. To satisfy these requirements, N/W, H/W, SW, DB design, and architectural design plan were suggested regarding the design requirements of a small UAV system. To effectively control the small unmanned multi-party system in the system design, the architecture is divided into the front-end service area and the back-end service area according to the function and role of the unit system. In the front-end service area that grasps and controls the position and state of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), we have studied the design part that can be expanded to N through TCP/IP network by applying Client PC method.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.145-152
• /
• 2017

As a popularization of small UAS to have improved flight performance and easiness of controlling, the UAS industry is increased and also small UAS is to be a new threat for airspace security of national strategic infrastructure. Rising the new threat makes the negative side effect of small UAS operation. This phenomena brought to new R&D needs "defense system" for small UAS/UAV - called Anti-Drone. The paper addressed case study of defects, accidents and threats by small UAS/UAV as world wide level, and research and development trend of UAS defense system as each technical category - CONOP (Concept of Operation), identification/recognition method and control/supremacy techniques. As a result, this suggests the direction what and where drone defense system should be applied first and required for Korean society in the view of society system (regime) and a point of view for minimizing side effect as UAS popularization.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
• /
• v.14 no.5
• /
• pp.502-510
• /
• 2008

UAVs(Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) have many applications in military and commercial areas. The flight control system of UAVs is more important than manned aircraft's because the mission of UAVs must be operated without a human pilot. But very heavy and expensive navigation system makes it difficult to develop UAV flight control system. In this research, GPS/IMU integrated navigation filter was developed for light weight/low cost flight control system of small UAVs. With this navigation filter, full flight control system which has real time operating capability has been developed. The performance of the flight control system is basically checked by HILSIM (Hardware In the Loop SIMulation). Finally, the flight control system is verified by showing performance test result under real flight environment.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.50-56
• /
• 2014

In this paper, we proposed a Ku-band antenna that can be mounted on UAV. A proposed antenna structure has small size and light weight. It is considered long distance communication environment(LOS) and equipped UAV. Proposed antenna is designed $16{\times}2$ aperture coupled microstrip patch array antenna for high gain characteristics. In the measurement results, VSWR is less than 1.5 and the gain is over 21dBi in the bandwidth. Mechanical specifications of antenna assembly are ${\phi}250{\times}200mm$ of size and 3kg of weight.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.35 no.6_1
• /
• pp.987-997
• /
• 2019

Recently the demand for drones is rapidly increasing, as developing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and growing interest in them. Compared to traditional satellite and aerial imagery, it can be used for various researches (environment, geographic information, ocean observation, and remote sensing) because it can be managed with low operating costs and effective data acquisition. However, there is a disadvantage in that only a small area is acquired compared to the satellite and an aircraft, which is a traditional remote sensing method, depending on the battery capacity of the UAV, and the distance limit between Ground Control System (GCS) and UAV. If remote control at long range is possible, the possibility of using UAV in the field of remote sensing can be increased. Therefore, there is a need for a communication network system capable of controlling regardless of the distance between the UAV and the GCS. The distance between UAV and GCS can be transmitted and received using simple radio devices (RF 2.4 GHz, 915 MHz, 433 MHz), which is limited to around 2 km. If the UAV can be managed simultaneously by improving the operating environment of the UAV using a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) communication network, it can make greater effects by converging with the existing industries. In this study, we performed the maximum straight-line distance 6.1 km, the test area 2.2 ㎢, and the total flight distance 41.75 km based on GCS through LTE communication. In addition, we analyzed the possibility of disconnected communication through the base station of LTE communication.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.36 no.5_3
• /
• pp.1013-1025
• /
• 2020

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) platform is being widely used in disaster monitoring and smart city, having the advantage of being able to quickly acquire images in small areas at a low cost. Ground Control Points (GCPs) for positioning UAV images are essential to acquire cm-level accuracy when producing UAV-based orthoimages and Digital Surface Model (DSM). However, the on-site acquisition of GCPs takes considerable manpower and time. This research aims to provide an efficient and accurate way to replace the on-site GNSS surveying with three different sources of geospatial data. The three geospatial data used in this study is as follows; 1) 25 cm aerial orthoimages, and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) based on 1:1000 digital topographic map, 2) point cloud data acquired by Mobile Mapping System (MMS), and 3) hybrid point cloud data created by merging MMS data with UAV data. For each dataset a three-dimensional positional accuracy analysis of UAV-based orthoimage and DSM was performed by comparing differences in three-dimensional coordinates of independent check point obtained with those of the RTK-GNSS survey. The result shows the third case, in which MMS data and UAV data combined, to be the most accurate, showing an RMSE accuracy of 8.9 cm in horizontal and 24.5 cm in vertical, respectively. In addition, it has been shown that the distribution of geospatial GCPs has more sensitive on the vertical accuracy than on horizontal accuracy.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.1343-1351
• /
• 2014

Recent technological advances in wireless networks and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have led to the development of different types of mini-UAVs and their utilizations in various ways. This study endeavors to develop a low-cost mini-UAV with autonomous flight capability, in order to obtain geospatial information of a small or medium-sized area, and also assess its flight stability by comparing the predetermined flight paths against the actual flight paths. Based on a post-development flight test, stable flight has been proven achievable as follows: the maximum endurance speed is 1 hour, the flying distance is 50km, the horizontal accuracy of flight paths is about ${\pm}6{\sim}8m$, and the altitude accuracy is about ${\pm}8m$. Therefore, it is deemed that high-resolution images which can be utilized for geospatial information are obtainable. This indicates that a UAV flying at an altitude of 200m can acquire images across a $2km{\times}3km$ area on the ground within 25 minutes, which validates its high usability for obtaining high-solution images at low altitudes in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
• /
• v.41 no.5
• /
• pp.422-428
• /
• 2013

Recently, many unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) studies have focused on small UAVs, because they are cost effective and suitable in dangerous indoor environments where human entry is limited. Map building through distance measurement is a key technology for the autonomous flight of small UAVs. In many researches for unmanned systems, distance could be measured by using laser range finders or stereo vision sensors. Even though a laser range finder provides accurate distance measurements, it has a disadvantage of high cost. Calculating the distance using a stereo vision sensor is straightforward. However, the sensor is large and heavy, which is not suitable for small UAVs with limited payload. This paper suggests a low-cost distance measurement system using a laser pointer and a monocular vision sensor. A method to measure distance using the suggested system is explained and some experiments on map building are conducted with these distance measurements. The experimental results are compared to the actual data and the reliability of the suggested system is verified.