A method for UAV multi-sensor fusion 3D-localization under degraded or denied GPS situation

Abstract

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been developed to be used in complex environments. Continuity of a UAV operation when GPS is degraded or denied is crucial in many applications, such as flying near high buildings and trees, or flying outdoor-to-indoor. In this paper, an algorithm for 3D-localization during transition between indoor and outdoor environments for a UAV is presented. Localization inputs are based on information from GPS, inertial measurement unit, monocular camera, and optical flow sensor. Information is carefully selected using GPS quality indicator method corresponding to the operating environment. After that, a smoothing offset approach is employed to smooth the position estimation. The selected sensors’ data are filtered by indirect extended Kalman filter for localization and extrinsic sensor calibration in real time. Results show a seamless offset convergence of UAV localization for indoor–outdoor transition. Moreover, the proposed method of decision-making to cut off GPS measurement even when it experiences poor signal quality can still outperform conventional GPS-based cutoff method in terms of response time.