[Studies in Computational Intelligence 481] Artur Babiarz, Robert Bieda, Karol Jędrasiak, Aleksander Nawrat (auth.), Aleksander Nawrat, Zygmunt Kuś (eds.) - Vision Based Systemsfor UAV Applications (2013, Sprin

Object Tracking for Rapid Camera Movements
in 3D Space
Zygmunt Kuś and Aleksander Nawrat
Abstract. The solution of the camera head control problem was presented in the
paper. The main goal of developed control algorithm is the object tracking in
rapid disturbance conditions. The changes of the helicopter position and orientation
during the time of disturbance result in losing tracked object from the field of
view. Due to this fact the helicopter control system uses not only the visual information.
The essence of the proposed solution is to compute the object position
only in such time intervals when the object is in the center of the image. It allows
the camera head regulators to compensate change of the camera position and set
the camera towards the object. The proposed solution comprises of turning the
camera head towards the trucked object in horizontal and vertical planes. The
appropriate angles were computed on the basis of rangefinder data (distance between
the camera and the object) and GPS and IMU data (the camera position and
orientation). Furthermore, examples of the situation when the distortion changes
the helicopter position in horizontal and vertical plane were presented in the paper.
1 Introduction
UAVs which are used to track terrestial objects have a wide range of use. Tracking
of such objects results in problems with recognition and following the object
by the UAV [32]. One of the possible solutions of the latter is the use of the
Zygmunt Kuś ⋅ Aleksander Nawrat
Silesian University of Technology, Institute of Automatic Control,
Akademicka 16, 44-101 Gliwice, Poland
e-mail: {zygmunt.kus,aleksander.nawrat}@polsl.pl
Aleksander Nawrat
Ośrodek Badawczo-Rozwojowy Urządzeń Mechanicznych “OBRUM” sp. z o.o., ul.
Toszecka 102, 44-117 Gliwice, Poland
e-mail: anawrat@obrum.gliwice.pl
A. Nawrat and Z. Kuś (Eds.): Vision Based Systems for UAV Applications, SCI 481, pp. 57–76.
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-00369-6_4 © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2013