Autonomous UAV support for rescue forces using onboard pattern recognition

During search and rescue operations in case of man-made or natural disasters the application forces need exact information about the situation as soon as possible. At the Fraunhofer IOSB a security and supervision system is developed which uses varied modern sensor systems for this purpose. Beside land robots, maritime vessels, sensor networks and fixed cameras also miniature flight drones are used to transport the most different payloads and sensors. To gain a higher level of autonomy for these UAVs, different onboard process chains of image exploitation for tracking landmarks and of control technologies for UAV navigation were implemented and examined to achieve a redundant and reliable UAV precision landing. First experiments have allowed to validate the process chains and to develop a demonstration system for the tracking of landmarks in order to prevent and to minimize any confusion on landings.