D.Ing. / Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-based observation system, by using the principles of strapdown inertial measurement and navigation systems. Effort is concentrated around the mathematical implementation thereof and analysis and proof of the concept in a computer simulation environment. Although the principles of the strapdown system approach to camera-to-target vector estimation are universal to any type of airborne platform that can carry the observation payload, the application thereof is specifically tailored for a UAV system. More specifically, the operational scenario and UAV parameters of a typical close-range UAV system that is used for artillery observation, is used in the derivation of the models and equations. The secondary objective of this research is to derive a realizable mathematical implementation for this strapdown system based camera-to-target vector estimation methodology, by performing a systematic tradeoff between the use of Euler angles and quaternions for describing the camera-to-target vector, and by incorporating the principles of Kalman filtering. This dissertation fully describes the approach that was followed in the derivation of the strapdown system equations for the camera-to-target vector estimation. The mathematical models and principles used are universal for any airborne targeting application with a real-time video down-link. The results as presented in this dissertation, prove that the methodology provides satisfactory results in both a pure digital computer simulation environment, as well as in a digital computer simulation that is hybridized with experimentally determined sensor outputs. It has led to a realizable and workable implementation that could form the basis of practical implementation thereof in operational targeting systems. It further proves that the slant range between a camera and a stationary target on the ground, can be estimated effectively without the use of a laser rangefinder.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:2916 |
| Date | 21 August 2012 |
| Creators | Hattingh, Willem Adriaan |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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