Combining stereo imaging, inertial and altitude sensing systems for the quad-rotor

Abstract

This chapter is devoted to the design and implementation of a stereo-vision, inertial and altitude sensing system for a quad-rotor. The objective is to enable the vehicle to autonomously perform take-off, relative positioning, navigation and landing when evolving in unstructured, indoors, and GPS-denied environments. A real-time comparison study between a Luenberger observer, a Kalman filter and a complementary filter is also addressed, with the purpose of validating the most effective approach for combining the different sensing technologies.