A Long Distance Mono Optical Localization System for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

GPS is widely used for the localization of unmanned aerial vehicles due to its universal nature and high precision when combined with an IMU. However, a GPS relies on communication with satellites, and in some scenarios, this communication can be blocked rendering the method unusable. In these scenarios, an alternative localization method is needed as relying entirely on an IMU-based approach results in high degrees of drift. A solution to this problem is using a camera, to track the takeoff position of the UAV, and utilizing the pin-hole model to estimate the distance to the takeoff position. The greatest strength of this solution is that the UAV can locate itself without relying on communication. However, there are several challenges associated with utilizing a single camera for localization, especially at long distances, as the noise quickly grows. This paper presents a solution to this problem and a real-life implementation displaying the viability of the method.