Speed Estimation of Multiple Moving Objects from a Moving UAV Platform

Abstract

Speed detection of a moving object using an optical camera has always been an important subject to study in computer vision. This is one of the key components to address in many application areas, such as transportation systems, military and naval applications, and robotics. In this study, we implemented a speed detection system for multiple moving objects on the ground from a moving platform in the air. A detect-and-track approach is used for primary tracking of the objects. Faster R-CNN (region-based convolutional neural network) is applied to detect the objects, and a discriminative correlation filter with CSRT (channel and spatial reliability tracking) is used for tracking. Feature-based image alignment (FBIA) is done for each frame to get the proper object location. In addition, SSIM (structural similarity index measurement) is performed to check how similar the current frame is with respect to the object detection frame. This measurement is necessary because the platform is moving, and new objects may be captured in a new frame. We achieved a speed accuracy of 96.80% with our framework with respect to the real speed of the objects.