Monocular Vision-based Aircraft Ground Obstacle Classification

This article presents the first steps towards extending the applicability of the author’s monocular vision- based aircraft sense and avoid method for steady ground obstacles. The goal is to decide if a ground obstacle is a collision threat or not. The focus of the development is real- time on board applicability that’s why simple calculations are proposed. After extending the calculation formulae for steady obstacles the results of a software-in-the-loop simulation campaign are presented for car and tower obstacles. The results are all acceptable so further developments will target a proper avoidance strategy and real flight tests.