Dynamic Camera Planning for Robot-Integrated Manufacturing Processes Using a UAV

The optimal viewpoint for monitoring robotic production processes is crucial for maintenance, inspection, and error handling, especially in large-scale production facilities, as it maximizes visual information. This paper presents a method for dynamic camera planning using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), enabling collision-free operation and measurable, high perspective coverage for a user-defined Region of Interest (ROI). Therefore, optimal viewpoints are searched with a greedy search algorithm and a decision for the optimal viewpoint is derived. The method is implemented within a simulation framework in Unity and evaluated in a robotic palletizing application. Results show that the use of a UAV as dynamic camera achieves up to twice the perspective coverage during continuous flight compared to the current capabilities of static cameras.