Smartphone Video Guidance Sensor in High-Altitude UAV Precision Landing
Abstract
The Smartphone Video Guidance Sensor (SVGS) is an emerging technology developed
by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center that uses a vision-based approach to
accurately estimate the six-state position and orientation vectors of an illuminated
target of known dimensions with respect to a coordinate frame fixed to the camera.
SVGS is a software-based sensor that can be deployed using a host platform’s resources
(CPU and camera) for proximity operations and formation flight of drones
or spacecraft. The SVGS output is calculated based on photogrammetric analysis
of the light blobs in each image; its accuracy in linear and angular motion at different
velocities has previously been successfully demonstrated [7]. SVGS has several
potential applications in guidance, navigation, motion control, and proximity operations
as a reduced-cost, compact, reliable option to competing technologies such
as LiDAR or infrared sensing. One of the applications envisioned by NASA for
SVGS is planetary/lunar autonomous landing. This paper aims to compare the
SVGS performance in autonomous landing with existing technologies: a combination
of infrared beacon technology (IRLock) and LiDAR. The comparison is based
on a precision landing experiment using ROS, ROS2, and PX4 Firmware. Results
suggest that SVGS performs better than the existing IRLock with LiDAR fusion.