Sensitivity Analysis to Estimate the Positional Accuracy of a Small Size Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Small size Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are utilized at the military operations since they cannot be detected by RADAR or air defense systems easily. In this study suitability and functionality of small size and low cost UAVs are examined. The examination considers the case where the positioning sensors and the remote control system of the UAV are out of order by the signal breakers or jammers. The position and the attitude of the UAV are estimated by resection without using ground control points. The autonomous flight of the UAV is navigated by Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) based algorithm. The accuracies of the position and attitude of the UAV is estimated by implementing the variance propagation law for the georeferencing of the images taken by the on board camera of the UAV. The sensitivity analysis is conducted for the situation where the UAV flies through a mountainous region. The results of this study can be useful for the decision makers to assess the success rate of the mission conducted by a small scale UAV.

I. Introduction

Utilization of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) has many application opportunities for the military operations. Difficulty of being detected by RADAR or air defense systems and their low cost makes UAV s popular to be utilized for the military operations. However, low cost UAVs are usually operated by remote control because of their incapability of autonomous navigation. Functionality of the UAVs can be obscured by jammers or signal breakers. If this is the case, GPS receiver and remote control of the UAV become incapacitated and the UA V can execute the mission by autonomous navigation with limited accuracy of position and attitude.