An Aerial Robot System Tracking a Moving Object

  • Ogata, Takehito (Department of Mechanical and Control Engineering Kyushu Institute of Technology) ;
  • Tan, Joo Kooi (Department of Mechanical and Control Engineering Kyushu Institute of Technology) ;
  • Ishikawa, Seiji (Department of Mechanical and Control Engineering Kyushu Institute of Technology)
  • Published : 2003.10.22

Abstract

Automatic tracking of a moving object such as a person is a demanding technique especially in surveillance. This paper describes an experimental system for tracking a moving object on the ground by using a visually controlled aerial robot. A blimp is used as the aerial robot in the proposed system because of its locality in motion and its silent nature. The developed blimp is equipped with a camera for taking downward images and four rotors for controlling the progression. Once a camera takes an image of a specified moving object on the ground, the blimp is controlled so that it follows the object by the employment of the visual information. Experimental results show satisfactory performance of the system. Advantages of the present system include that images from the air often enable us to avoid occlusion among objects on the ground and that blimp’s progression is much less restricted in the air than, e.g., a mobile robot running on the ground.

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