A visual-servo-based assistant system for unmanned helicopter control

This paper proposes an assistant and training system for controlling an unmanned helicopter. The unmanned helicopter does not have any sensors which measure its position or posture. Stationary cameras are placed on the flight field. The helicopter is controlled by using a visual servo technique as follows. An operator steers the helicopter using sticks on a hand-held input device. The sticks make reference signals. The assistant system designs control signals such that the helicopter tracks the reference signals. The proposed system has the following four functions: automatic takeoff and landing, control channel selection, flight in a desired area, and automatic motion generation. They enables beginners to control an unmanned helicopter. The system provides real actions of unmanned helicopters. This is the main difference from flight simulators.