Using Telemetry Data For Video Compression On Unmanned Air Vehicles

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in the “mini ” to “micro ” size ranges (<6 foot wingspan) are becoming increasingly popular platforms for the collection of video data about an area of interest. Currently, mini-UAV platforms transmit video back to the end user using analog RF transmitters. Transmission of digital video, although it is more desirable on a mini-UAV platform, requires video compression to be performed. Unfortunately, determining the motion information required for digital video compression is a computationally expensive procedure. Hardware capable of performing this task is typically too heavy, too large, and too power intensive to be carried on a mini-UAV. We present an efficient algorithm for solving the motion estimation problem which requires far less computation, making it feasible for implementation on-board a mini-UAV. We reduce the amount of computation necessary by using (1) knowledge of camera locations (from available mini-UAV sensor data) and (2) the projective geometry of the camera. We present encouraging initial results, showing that this method reduces computations by almost two orders of magnitude compared to standard methods, and yields comparable or improved compression results. I