Indoor/Outdoor Autonomous Navigation and 3D Exploration with a Quadrotor

Abstract

In this talk, I will discuss approaches to state estimation and exploration with an autonomous quadrotor in indoor and outdoor environments. Quadrotors, and more generally micro-aerial vehicles, offer 3D mobility and observational capabilities that make them particularly applicable to search-and-rescue scenarios where the vehicle must navigate complex 3D environments for the purposes of mapping and inspection. During search-and-research scenarios in or near buildings, such as in response to an emergency or disaster, it may not be possible for a human to enter the environment and thus the vehicle must be able to access the location and operate autonomously without requiring high-level direction. This talk focuses on the addressing these requirements and will consist of three parts: (1) a brief overview of the necessary prerequisites to enable autonomous navigation with a quadrotor in multi-story indoor environments; (2) a state estimation approach that permits autonomous navigation in mixed indoor and outdoor environments; and (3) an algorithm for exploration in complex three-dimensional environments that is amenable to application on a quadrotor with payload constrained sensing and computational capabilities. I will present the details of the methodologies as well as experimental evaluations in relevant operational environments.