Camera Locking Algorithm for Target Follower Function on Quadrotor

Abstract

We present a design of vision based target follower system for mini unmanned vehicle, quadrotor. The proposed system is used to test the performance of quadrotor autopilot system for an autonomous task such as following a moving target. The system must be able to detect and lock
a moving target while a quadrotor follows the target movement. A camera is fixed in quadrotor facing to the ground to capture images of the moving target. Images is processed by a computer to acquire the position of the target relative to quadrotor position. Quadrotor is controlled so its position is always above the target. The target is recognized and detected by image processing using blob detection algorithm. A computer is used to do this image processing task. A simple target is used for this first experiment.