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An Stereoscopic Vision System Guiding an Autonomous Helicopter for Overhead Power Cable Inspection

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Robot Vision (RobVis 2001)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 1998))

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Abstract

The present paper describes the objectives, structure, present stage, results and future milestones of the project ELEVA. This project is aimed to control an autonomous helicopter in order to follow an overhead power cable by means of a stereo computer vision system. The helicopter is aimed to have always in sight the overhead power cable, to follow it by using it as an external visual reference guide and to record it for its ulterior visual inspection. These objectives are achieved by using a 3D computer vision system to generate the reference trajectory to be followed and by using internal sensors to control its stability and its trajectory. The paper presents the results obtained so far: visual detection and tracking of the power cable, robust under changing environments, and robust stationary control of the helicopter, now linked to a safety mechanical platform. Finally this paper describes the future challenges of the project and its temporal milestones.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.P.M - DISAM - División de Ingenieria de Sistemas y Automática, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain

    Pascual Campoy, Pedro J. Garcia, Antonio Barrientos, Jaime del Cerro & Iñaqui Aguirre

  2. Line Maintenance and Construction Department, Red Eléctrica de España, S.A., Po. del Conde de los Gaitanes, 177, 28109, La Moraleja, Madrid, Spain

    Andrés Roa, Rafael Garcia & José M. Muñoz

Authors
  1. Pascual Campoy
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  2. Pedro J. Garcia
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  3. Antonio Barrientos
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  4. Jaime del Cerro
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  5. Iñaqui Aguirre
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  6. Andrés Roa
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  7. Rafael Garcia
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  8. José M. Muñoz
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Image Technology and Robotics (CITR Tamaki), The University of Auckland, Tamaki Campus, Building 731, 1005, Auckland, New Zealand

    Reinhard Klette

  2. Department of Computer Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Givat Ram, Ross Building, 91904, Jerusalem, Israel

    Shmuel Peleg

  3. Institut für Informatik, Universitäet Kiel, Preusserstr.1-9, 24105, Kiel, Germany

    Gerald Sommer

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© 2001 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Campoy, P. et al. (2001). An Stereoscopic Vision System Guiding an Autonomous Helicopter for Overhead Power Cable Inspection. In: Klette, R., Peleg, S., Sommer, G. (eds) Robot Vision. RobVis 2001. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1998. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-44690-7_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-44690-7_15

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-41694-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-44690-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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