===== Visual/Inertial Motion Estimation =====

Fundamental to the successful operation of unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, for service and inspection tasks is the capability to sense ego-motion and to compute a basic map the environment in real-time. The application requires a high degree of robustness and accuracy yet payload, power and size constraints limit the choice for the onboard sensor suite. We developed a framework that tightly couples visual and inertial cues to achieve the required robustness and accuracy.


This page presents our efforts towards a general-purpose //Simultaneous Localization and Mapping// (SLAM) device, with many applications that go far beyond aerial vehicles and other mobile robotic systems. Please contact us if you are interested in a collaboration: <christoph.huerzeler@mavt.ethz.ch>, <janosch.nikolic@mavt.ethz.ch>.
==== Visual/Inertial SLAM Sensor ====

<fc #FF0000>//New 2012//</fc> 2nd generation //SLAM Sensor//. The new prototype integrates inertial sensors of different grades (all MEMS), global shutter machine-vision cameras, a XILINX Spartan-6 FPGA and a dual-core Intel ATOM processor. The FPGA performs sensor time-synchronization and visual feature detection, while the ATOM performs visual/inertial real-time SLAM/sensor fusion.

[{{ :perception:slamsensor.jpg?400 | "General purpose //SLAM in a Box"// system developed to enable motion estiamtion and mapping in any GPS-denied (e.g. indoor) environment.}}]

[{{ :perception:quadslamsensor.jpg?400 | Sensor mounted on test platform.}}]


==== Visual/Inertial Motion Estimation Prototype ====

1st generation visual/inertial motion estimation system used in the [[research:narcea|Narcea field tests]] in 2012. It is now replaced by the SLAM sensor 2nd prototype above.

[{{ :inspectionuavs:stereorigscl.jpg?400 |1st prototype of a "//visual/inertial motion estimation// system}}]

Visual/Inertial motion estimation performed in teal-time (Rainer Voigt):

{{video>data/media/perception/vimoestconv.avi}}

First successful flight tests (2011) (Michael Burri). Have a look at our latest flight experiments here: [[research:narcea|System Tests Narcea Power Plant]].

{{video>data/media/research/mpc.avi}}