MAKER PORTFOLIO
OBJECT RECOGNITION BASED UAV CONTROL
[2014-16]
Official Project Website:
http://www.svcl.ucsd.edu/projects/dronefollow/


Project Summary Video
Project Results Video
This is a video summarizing the main results of my Science Fair project. The first part shows the drone following me in a cluttered environment (my garage). The second part shows that the drone can do this in the dark, if the badge is illuminated. The final part illustrates how the drone behavior can be programmed by simply changing the pattern on the badge. Note that the drone moves backward and forward as I switch between two patterns.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-_4FnbjGMg]
Badge Tracking Experiments Results
This video shows the results of the Object Recognition Based UAV Control (ORBUAVC) project. In order to compare the tracking capabilities of the bottom-up, top-down, and program mode detectors, three experiments were conducted.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63U4lYQOON8]
Badge Detections
Output of the computer vision algorithm I designed to detect badges in drone video. The blue and green squares are the top candidate detections for each badge size. The yellow square is the final detection. The grey square is the attention window in which the badge will be searched for in the next video frame. Note the variety of user distance and orientation relative to the drone, as well as varying backgrounds and lighting conditions. The most difficult challenge was to make the detector robust to all of this. The detector runs with a speed of 20 frames per second. Tracking Experiments
Personal Cameraman
Now that I have managed to get the computer vision module to work reliably, I am developing the "personal cameramen" application that motivated the Science Fair project. These pictures are shots from some trial runs that I have performed recently.
ACCOLADES
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Published to IEEE Winter Applications of Computer Vision Conference [2016]
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Intel ISEF Robotics & Intelligent Machines 4th Place Grand Award [2015]
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Intel ISEF CERN Special Award [2015]
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Intel ISEF United Technologies Special Award [2015]
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Southern California JSHS 1st Place [2016]
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GSDSEF Sweepstakes Award [2015]
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GSDSEF Senior Division 1st Place [2015]
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Intel Excellence in Computer Science Award [2015]
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AFCEA Corporate Award [2015]
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EAA Corporate Award [2015]
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MTS Corporate Award [2015]
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NAVY ONR Corporate Award [2015]