Auto Filmer: Autonomous Aerial Videography Under Human Interaction
Zhiwei Zhang, Yuhang Zhong, Junlong Guo, Qianhao Wang, Chao Xu, Fei Gao · IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters · 2022
The advance of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has enabled customers and directors to film from the air. However, operating the drone to produce desired videos upon a moving object is hard to achieve. This letter proposes an autonomous aerial videography system that integrates customized shots and drone dynamics. We design a user-friendly interface for the operator to create the desired shot in real-time. The shot information is then transmitted to the kinodynamic path search process, in which a safe shooting path will be evaluated. Later, feasible regions and safe flight corridors are constructed for safety and visibility. Finally, a joint optimization is carried out to generate the trajectory of the quadrotor and the gimbal to maintain the required image composition. Extensive simulation and real-world experiments validate the effectiveness of our method. The supplementary video1presents the results.