Quadcopter – Aerial photography and infrared camera in practical use

The primary aim of the quadcopter project was to develop a hovering/flying, mobile platform that could be used to survey ground areas using sensors to detect various characteristics. Such a platform could, for example, be used in agriculture as a tracking aid: every year, thousands of animals are killed during mowing operations, as there is currently no cost-effective way of locating animals quickly.

A team of students from the Faculty of Computer Science investigated the feasibility of this and concluded that aerial surveillance is the most effective option due to its flexibility. A DIY quadcopter was chosen as the platform, which is characterised by its inherent stability and ease of use. Equipped with a military-grade infrared camera, it transmits live images via a 2.4 GHz video stream to a ground station. A video demonstrates how the quadcopter works.

Practical application at Senfacker

Hochschule Worms
Actual view of Senfacker from a height of 30 metres
Actual view of Senfacker from a height of 30 metres
Hochschule Worms
Infrared image of the dogs taken from a height of 30 metres
Infrared image of the dogs taken from a height of 30 metres

To conclude the dissertation, a practical deployment was simulated in a mustard field, in which two small hunting dogs served as ‘game dummies’. The test was designed to demonstrate the quadcopter’s suitability under real-world conditions: the images are analysed directly at the ground station, providing immediate information on the animals’ positions. A comparison between the real-time and infrared images clearly showed that the infrared camera is the better choice in this context. The project and thesis thus successfully addressed the problem at hand and offer plenty of scope for further developments.

Outlook

The quadcopter project was undergoing continuous development: Worms University of Applied Sciences now also has an octocopter with eight motors and propellers, which is capable of carrying significantly heavier loads. Possible future developments range from aerial surveillance using cameras, through sensor-based monitoring, to autonomous reconnaissance vehicles; at times, work was carried out on an automatic take-off procedure designed to simplify operation considerably.