Vision‐based map building and path planning method in unmanned air/ground vehicle cooperative systems

Abstract

To reduce the casualties and improve the efficiency of robot, unmanned air/ground vehicle (UAV/UGV) cooperative systems are proposed. In this study, mathematical algorithms are applied in a typical‐rescue scenario. As a ‘flying eye’, the UAV provided the global information by vision sensor. Then, the images were processed with SURF algorithm and image binarisation to model the environment. Based on the UAV's information, the optimised A* algorithm was proposed. Finally, a feasible path was designed for UGV to rescue. Experiments are performed to evaluate the performances of the proposed method. Results show that SURF algorithm and image binarisation can realise the accuracy and robustness of map building. The optimised A* algorithm can provide a real‐time and feasible path.