Vision-based navigation using kinect sensor

Abstract

Autonomous navigation can be used in operations like surveillance activities. Currently most military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) still requires pilots to fly them. Although the pilots are safe from danger, the amount of manpower can be reduced to produce better efficiency, thus the need for autonomous navigation.

Since most of the UAVs navigate with GPS sensors, autonomous flight cannot be achieved without the use of GPS. The solution would be to use Vision-based navigation.

This project discusses the development of a system that enables autonomous flight using a Kinect sensor for Vision-based Navigation. This is achieved by using Point Cloud Library (PCL).