Simulation And Analysis Of Image-Based Navigation System For Rotorcraft Low-Altitude Flight

Human pilots can fly at low altitude and in the nap-of-the-Earth mode because of their ability to process visual information, locate obstacles and modify their flight profile as necessary to follow a desired course. Therefore, an essential step in the automation of rotorcraft low-altitude flight is the ability to detect and locate obstacles, using on-board sensors, and modify the nominal trajectory. This paper examines some of the issues in the location of objects using a sequence of images from a passive sensor. Simulation results are presented for object location using three difFerent Kalman Filters.