UAV to UAV Target Detection and Pose Estimation

The objective of this thesis is to investigate the feasibility of using computer vision to provide robust sensing capabilities suitable for the purpose of UAV to UAV detection and pose estimation using affordable CCD cameras and open coding libraries. We accomplish this by reviewing past literature about UAV detection and pose estimation and exploring comparison of multiple state-of-the-art algorithms. The thesis presents implementation studies of detection approaches including color-based detection and component-based detection. We also present studies of pose estimation methods including the PosIt algorithm, homography-based detection, and the EPFL non-iterative method. The thesis provides a preliminary strategy for detecting small UAVs and for estimating its six degree of freedom 6DOF pose from image sequences within the prescribed airspace. Discussion of its performance in processing synthetic data is highlighted for future applications using real-life data sets.