Mechatronic Kite and Camera Rig to Rapidly Acquire, Process, and Distribute Aerial Images

Abstract

Aerial images are challenging to acquire in times of a disaster. Conventional aircraft may not be able to takeoff and land due to crippled runways and airstrips. Time is often critical and delays incurred from scheduling a satellite fly-by may frustrate mitigation efforts. A system that can be easily transported to the disaster site and rapidly deployed would be an attractive alternative to aircraft and satellites. This paper integrates mechatronics, intelligent sensing, and mechanism synthesis in a teleoperable kite-mounted camera. Such a system is rapidly deployable, easy to fly, affordable, and can fit in a backpack to quickly acquire, process, and distribute aerial images. Image mosaicing, edge detection, three-dimensional reconstruction, and geo-referencing resulting from images acquired by our aerial platform are also presented.