Omni-Directional Proximity Sensor System for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) Using Multizone Ranging Time-of-Flight Sensors

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including drones, are expected to be used in various fields. When used for inspection and in indoor spaces, a UAV is required to approach objects and obstacles. However, the risk of collision increases when the UAV approaches objects. In this study, we propose a sensor system for UAVs that can achieve omni-directional detection using a small number of multizone ranging time-of-flight (ToF) sensors. The sensor system consists of 24 ToF sensors on the propeller guard and two ToF sensors on the UAV and has a maximum detection distance of approximately 3500 mm. The sensor system can measure the omni-directional position of objects relative to a UAV in flight. Therefore, we think that the proposed system will be useful for UAV operations.