Vision-Only Automatic Flight Control for Small UAVs

In this paper, a vision-based flight control system that uses a skyline-detection algorithm is developed for application to small unmanned aerial vehicles. The skyline-detection algorithm can detect straight or uneven skylines. The system integrates a remote controller, a remotely controlled airplane, a camera, a wireless transmitter/receiver, a ground control computer, and the proposed skyline-detection algorithm to achieve automatic control of flight stability. Static and dynamic tests are conducted to validate the system. In the static tests, the average accuracy rate for skyline detection is 98.62% based on five test videos. In the dynamic tests, straight and circular flights are used to verify lateral and longitudinal stability for the proposed flight control system. The experimental results demonstrate the performance and robustness of the algorithm and the feasibility and potential of a low-cost vision-only flight control system.