Implementation of autonomous navigation and mapping using a laser line scanner on a tactical unmanned aerial vehicle

Abstract

The objective of this thesis is to investigate greater levels of autonomy in unmanned vehicles. This is accomplished by reviewing past literature about the developing of components of software architecture that are necessary for unmanned systems to achieve greater autonomy. The thesis presents implementation studies of existing sensor-based robotic navigation and mapping algorithms in both software and hardware, including a laser range finder, on a quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle platform for real-time obstacle detection and avoidance. This effort is intended to lay the groundwork to begin critical evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the MOOS-IVP autonomy architecture and provide insight into what is necessary to achieve greater levels of intelligent autonomy in current and future unmanned systems.