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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Limited Resource Feature Detection, Description, And Matching, Spencer G. Fowers Apr 2012

Limited Resource Feature Detection, Description, And Matching, Spencer G. Fowers

Theses and Dissertations

The aims of this research work are to develop a feature detection, description, and matching system for low-resource applications. This work was motivated by the need for a vision sensor to assist the flight of a quad-rotor UAV. This application presented a real-world challenge of autonomous drift stabilization using vision sensors. The initial solution implemented a basic feature detector and matching system on an FPGA. The research then pursued ways to improve the vision system. Research began with color feature detection, and the Color Difference of Gaussians feature detector was developed. CDoG provides better results than gray scale DoG and …


Enhanced Image-Aided Navigation Algorithm With Automatic Calibration And Affine Distortion Prediction, Juan D. Jurado Mar 2012

Enhanced Image-Aided Navigation Algorithm With Automatic Calibration And Affine Distortion Prediction, Juan D. Jurado

Theses and Dissertations

This research aims at improving two key steps within the image aided navigation process: camera calibration and landmark tracking. The camera calibration step is improved by automating the point correspondence calculation within the standard camera calibration algorithm, thereby reducing the required time for calibration while maintaining the output model accuracy. The feature landmark tracking step is improved by digitally simulating affine distortions on input images in order to calculate more accurate feature descriptors for improved feature matching in high relative viewpoint change. These techniques are experimentally demonstrated in an outdoor environment with a consumer-grade inertial sensor and three imaging sensors, …


Covariance Analysis Of Vision Aided Navigation By Bootstrapping, Andrew L. Relyea Mar 2012

Covariance Analysis Of Vision Aided Navigation By Bootstrapping, Andrew L. Relyea

Theses and Dissertations

Inertial Navigation System (INS) aiding using bearing measurements taken over time of stationary ground features is investigated. A cross country flight, in two and three dimensional space, is considered, as well as a vertical drop in three dimensional space. The objective is to quantify the temporal development of the uncertainty in the navigation states of an aircraft INS which is aided by taking bearing measurements of ground objects which have been geolocated using ownship position. It is shown that during wings level flight at constant speed and a fixed altitude, an aircraft that tracks ground objects and over time sequentially …