A Fast Warehouse Inventory Micro Aerial Vehicle System Equipped with Visual Guidance and Navigation Algorithm

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Flight Dynamics and Control, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Aerospace Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to integrate computer vision techniques and micro aerial vehicle guidance to design and optimize an automated mission performed by a light micro aerial vehicle such that automating the mission becomes reasonably more efficient than performing it manually. A system is provided for warehouse management using a micro aerial vehicle equipped with a front camera. Computer vision algorithms make it possible for the micro aerial vehicle to locate packages, verify the presence or absence of a specified package and list the entire warehouse inventory in a short time. An innovative method is provided to detect shelves and their packages by the camera image, which enables the system to instantly plan the shortest path for the micro aerial vehicle while performing a shelf inventory listing. Then, following the planned path completes the mission faster than conventional guidance methods. The guidance algorithm is designed such that the efficiency of automatic operations compared to human operations is significantly increased. The system is first simulated and then implemented and the test output data is provided. The tests indicate the success of the system in securing automated operations while decreasing mission time.

Keywords

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References

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Amirkabir Journal of Mechanical Engineering
Volume 53, Issue 12
March 2022
Pages 5785-5808

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