UAV based search for a radio tagged animal using particle filter s
A. Posch, Salah Sukkarieh · 2009
Radio animal tracking is usually carried out by surveying with an antenna and receiver. The researcher can determine the position of the animal by rotating the directional antenna and listening to the signal strength while walking around. Radio tags for animals have to be quite small with low weight and therefore have limited signal power resulting in a short range. This procedure could be tedious and therefore we present an alternative method using unmanned aerial vehicles with similar sensor equipment. The search algorithm uses a particle filter for representation of the probability density function of the animal’s states. For the guidance of the UAV two algorithms are compared: One is based on a dynamic grid overlay for the particles to quickly find the best destination while the other one is a more optimal but slower algorithm based on maximising the information gain. As example we show simulation results of the search procedure. Finally we present results from software-in-theloop and hardware-in-the-loop tests using the cloud cap autopilot. 1