Vision-Based Autonomous Helicopter Research at Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute 1991-1997

This paper presents an overview of the Autonomous Helicopter Project at Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute. The advantages of an autonomous vision-guided helicopter for a number of goal applications are enumerated through possible mission scenarios. The requirements of these applications are addressed by a central goal mission for the project. Current capabilities, including vision-based stability and control, autonomous take off, trajectory following, and landing, aerial mapping, and object recognition and manipulation are presented. In conclusion, the project future directions are discussed.