Autonomous Precision Landing with UAV and Auto charging

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are efficient when it comes to aerial surveillance, mapping, and reconnaissance. Most mini-UAVs have limited flight time which can severely limit their performance. UAVs deployed in remote areas- like in wildfire detection and early warning systems, border patrolling- are hence able to perform fully autonomously without human intervention. In this work, a method to automate the charging cycle of UAVs is proposed. A precision landing and automatic charging station for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is presented here. The landing platform is visualised by means of an optical camera which enables us to increase the reliability of landing. The exact position of the unmanned aerial vehicle at landing is achieved by an image analysis where the specially designed landing stage is detected. Once the UAV has landed, it can commence wireless charging after a cool-down period.