Reciprocal Collision Avoidance For Quadrotors Using On-board Visual Detection

In this paper we present a collision avoidance system based on visual detection. Our hardware consists of a Hummingbird quadrotor equipped with a large red marker with two built-in fish-eye cameras. Fusion of the measurements from the two cameras is done using a Gaussian-mixture probability hypothesis density filter, which allows for tracking several aircrafts at the same time. Our collision avoidance algorithm is based on navigation functions designed to cope with cameras characterized by limited field of view. Its mathematical correctness has been proven in a former paper. The collision avoidance maneuver is performed without the vehicles explicitly exchanging information via communication but instead relying solely on on-board sensors. Our system has been validated in an indoor space with four different collision scenarios. Trajectory data was recorded with an external motion capture system and demonstrate good robustness against sensing noise.