1,720,979 research outputs found
Vision-Augmented Inertial Navigation by Sensor Fusion for an Autonomous Rotorcraft Vehicle
No full textWe describe a novel inertial navigation system based on measurement fusion which includes stereo-vision among its sensors. The vision-augmented system provides enhanced accuracy in the estimation of the vehicle states when flying in proximity of obstacles, and can operate without GPS signal, for example when flying under vegetation cover, indoors or in complex urban environments. Scene feature points are tracked between the left an right images and across time steps, yielding vision-based information on the state of motion of the vehicle which is fused together with other non-vision-based sensors. The proposed approach is demonstrated using simulation for an autonomous helicopter flying in an urban environment
Inertial Navigation of an Autonomous Rotorcraft Vehicle Using Stereo-Vision
No full textWe describe a novel inertial navigation system based on measurement fusion which includes stereo-vision among its sensors. The vision-augmented system provides enhanced accuracy in the estimation of the vehicle states when flying in proximity of obstacles, and can operate without GPS signal, for example when flying under vegetation cover, indoors or in complex urban environments. Scene feature points are tracked between the left an right images and across time steps, yielding vision-based information on the state of motion of the vehicle which is fused together with other non-vision-based sensors. The proposed approach is demonstrated using simulation for an autonomous helicopter flying in an urban environment
Development of Augmented Control Laws for a Tiltrotor in Low and High Speed Flight Modes
No full textFeasibility Study of Rotorcraft Fire Fighting for High-Rise Buildings
No full textFire risk in high-rise buildings is of special concern to the fire community, since it is crucial but still technically extremely challenging to significantly improve the current fire fighting capabilities when a calamity happens above the "seven story limit." In fact, at the moment, there is a lack of effective means for fire fighting in this rare but potentially deadly and costly accidents. To address this problem, in this work we provide a preliminary exploration of a new concept for fire suppression: the use of rotorcraft vehicles for aerial fire fighting in high-rise buildings. If available, such system could effectively support fire fighting efforts conducted with conventional means; moreover, it could provide for one of the very few alternatives to classic systems in certain critical cases such as postearthquake fires. At first, we analyze the operative context with the help of a few reference realistic scenarios which allow for the estimation of some key physical parameters. Next, we evaluate two alternative fire extinguishing technologies, and we identify in the water impulse cannon the solution which seems to be the most effective and compatible with the use on-board a rotorcraft for the scopes considered in this work. The analysis leads us to the identification of a target vehicle as a possible candidate platform for the development of a fire fighting helicopter. Finally, we propose a preliminary design of the fire fighting kit, and we evaluate the handling qualities of the vehicle during operations with reference to the ADS-33 normative
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