Indoor waypoint UAV navigation using a RGB-D system

This paper presents a method for estimating the orientation and position of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), through processing information provided by a RGB-D sensor and an inertial measurement unit (IMU) in order to inspect predefined points in an indoor environment. A fusion filter is implemented to correct the existing drift position and orientation errors on a commercial AR.Drone quadrotor model. In addition, it was adopted a PD controller to position the UAV in such points with predetermined orientations. Experiments involving abrupt maneuvers to induce errors in the estimation of position and orientation were carried out, to check the effectiveness of the developed 3D data capture system and the designed controller. Results show the success of the new approach integrating a data fusion system to estimate UAV position and orientation.