Depth-Based Safe Landing for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in GPS-Denied Environment

This paper presents a safe landing methodology for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) when the GPS-based navigation system fails or is denied or unavailable. The approach relies on the estimation of a flat landing area when landing is required in an unknown area. The proposed system is based on a lightweight computer vision algorithm that enables real-time identification of suitable landing zones using a depth camera and an onboard companion computer. Analysis of small, spatially distributed areas to calculate the mean altitude and standard deviation across regions enables reliable selection of flat surfaces. A robust landing control algorithm is activated when the area meets strict flatness conditions for a continuous period. Real-time experiments confirmed the effectiveness of this approach under disturbances, showing reliable detection of the safe zone and the robustness of the proposed control algorithm in outdoor environments.