Full Autonomous Quadcopter for Indoor 3D Reconstruction

This paper presents system architecture, model-ing, control and experimental results of a fully autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Standard autopilot systems rely on external references for navigation. Outdoor systems often utilize (differential) global position systems (GPS), while indoor systems rely on indoor tracking systems. A low-cost depth camera and a reconstruction software enable the discussed system to navigate autonomously without external sensors or markers. Inflight data acquisition is not only used for navigation, but also for reconstruction of a 3D surface model of an arbitrary object in real time. This project builds on the open source autopilot project PX4FMU as well as on the reconstruction software RECONSTRUCTME by PROFACTOR. Experimental results illustrate the approach.