Detection and tracking of objects in an image sequence captured by a VTOL-UAV

Natalie Frietsch; Oliver Meister; Christian Schlaile; Jan Wendel; Gert F. Trommer

doi:10.1117/12.718643

2 May 2007 Detection and tracking of objects in an image sequence captured by a VTOL-UAV

Natalie Frietsch, Oliver Meister, Christian Schlaile, Jan Wendel, Gert F. Trommer

Proceedings Volume 6561, Unmanned Systems Technology IX; 65611H (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.718643
Event: Defense and Security Symposium, 2007, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

This paper focusses on the automated detection and tracking of moving objects in a camera sequence, that is provided by a small, electrically powered four-rotor helicopter in a hover-and-stare scenario. Two different algorithms for identifying independently moving areas are investigated and compared. The first approach bases on the previous compensation of the camera movement by estimation of homographies. Moving regions are extracted by robust background subtraction. The second approach bases on a dense optical flow field and needs no stabilization: Single points are identified that move not consistently with the background plane. These points are merged into objects by a cluster analysis algorithm. Furthermore, a strategy for tracking these objects over time is described including a Kalman filter. Due to several reasons, not every extracted area corresponds to an independently moving object and a heuristic rule set is used to sort artifacts out. Experimental results on in-flight images are presented and the performances of the developed algorithms are compared. Finally, first steps towards a geographic location of the tracked objects are described.

Citation Download Citation

Natalie Frietsch, Oliver Meister, Christian Schlaile, Jan Wendel, and Gert F. Trommer "Detection and tracking of objects in an image sequence captured by a VTOL-UAV", Proc. SPIE 6561, Unmanned Systems Technology IX, 65611H (2 May 2007); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.718643

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KEYWORDS

Detection and tracking algorithms

Cameras

Micro unmanned aerial vehicles

Navigation systems

Optical flow

Image processing

Filtering (signal processing)

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