Principles of Vision-Enabled Autonomous Flight

Preface
Glossary
1. Introduction
References
2. Autonomous Flight Tasks
2.1 VEAF Tasks
2.1.1 Taxi
2.1.2 Takeoff
2.1.3 En-route navigation
2.1.4 Obstacle avoidance
2.1.5 Landing
2.1.6 Formation flight and A3R
2.2 Required Vision System Capabilities
2.2.1 Surface evaluation
2.2.2 Pose relative to other vehicles and structures
2.2.3 Detect and track resolved objects on the ground
2.2.4 Detect and track unresolved moving objects
2.2.5 Geo-location without GPS
2.2.6 Measure distance traveled
2.2.7 Real-time 3D mapping
2.2.8 Terrain avoidance
2.2.9 Detect runways and taxiways
2.2.10 Detect and interpret colored lights
2.2.11 Detect and read standard airport signage
2.2.12 Other capabilities
2.3 Tasks and Capabilities Summary
2.4 Operating Environment and Common Dimensions
References
3. Sensing Requirements
3.1 Taxi
3.2 Takeoff
3.3 En-Route Flight
3.4 Obstacle Avoidance
3.4.1 Airborne detect and avoid
3.4.2 Terrain and obstacle avoidance
3.5 Landing
3.6 Formation Flight
3.7 Sensor Requirements Summary
References
4. Sensing Systems
4.1 Human Vision
4.2 Sensor Technologies
4.2.1 Wavebands and phenomenology
4.2.2 Sensors
4.2.3 Lidar
4.2.4 Radar
4.2.5 Other sensors
4.2.6 Sensor summary
References
5. Processing and Architectures
5.1 Architecture
5.2 Data Volumes
5.3 Greyscale Management
5.4 Compression
5.5 Latency
5.6 Metadata
5.7 Sensor Formats
5.8 Range Estimation
5.9 Multisensor Systems
5.10 Multiuse Sensors
5.11 Detection and Tracking
5.12 Summary
References
6. Algorithms
6.1 Terminology
6.2 Certification and Qualification
6.3 Stereo and Triangulation
6.4 Relative Pose
6.5 3D Mapping and Surface Evaluation
6.6 Airborne Detect and Avoid
6.7 Ground-Based Detection and Tracking
6.8 Terrain and Obstacle Avoidance
6.9 Detect Runways and Taxiways
6.10 Geo-Location/GPS-Denied Navigation
6.11 Docking
6.12 Landing Lights
6.13 Odds and Ends
References
7. Relevant Historical Aviation Accidents
7.1 Midair Collision: Failure of DAA
7.2 Ground Ops Collision: DVE
7.3 CFIT: DVE (Night), (Human) Input Error
7.4 Obstacle Collision in Low-Level Flight: DVE
7.5 Landing Collision: DVE
7.6 Crash due to Debris: Vision System (Human) Resolution Too Low
7.7 Vision (and Human Experience) Recovers Mechanical Failure: Miracle on the Hudson
7.8 One More Note on Safety: Cross-Checks for Integrity
References
Appendix: Triangulation Theory and Coordinate Transformations
A.1 Basic Triangulation Equations
A.2 Triangulation Accuracy
A.3 Maximum Triangulation Range
A.4 Computing LOS to Target
A.5 Valiation and Coordinate Systems
A.6 Rotation Conventions and Matrices
A.7 MBPE
References 111
Index