LIDAR-based Stabilization, Navigation and Localization for UAVs Operating in Dark Indoor Environments

TL;DR

This paper presents a robust LIDAR-based localization system enabling lightweight UAVs to operate reliably in dark indoor and outdoor environments without external signals, overcoming limitations of vision-based methods.

Contribution

A novel, lightweight LIDAR localization approach that ensures high reliability across diverse environments and allows seamless transition between indoor and outdoor settings.

Findings

Effective in dark indoor environments where vision fails.

Reliable in outdoor environments with high contrast scenes.

Compatible with UAVs under 200g weight.

Abstract

Autonomous operation of UAVs in a closed environment requires precise and reliable pose estimate that can stabilize the UAV without using external localization systems such as GNSS. In this work, we are concerned with estimating the pose from laser scans generated by an inexpensive and lightweight LIDAR. We propose a localization system for lightweight (under 200g) LIDAR sensors with high reliability in arbitrary environments, where other methods fail. The general nature of the proposed method allows deployment in wide array of applications. Moreover, seamless transitioning between different kinds of environments is possible. The advantage of LIDAR localization is that it is robust to poor illumination, which is often challenging for camera-based solutions in dark indoor environments and in the case of the transition between indoor and outdoor environment. Our approach allows executing tasks in poorly-illuminated indoor locations such as historic buildings and warehouses, as well as in the tight outdoor environment, such as forest, where vision-based approaches fail due to large contrast of the scene, and where large well-equipped UAVs cannot be deployed due to the constrained space.