A Deep Learning Approach to Localization for Navigation on a Miniature Autonomous Blimp

The Georgia Tech Miniature Autonomous Blimp (GT-MAB) needs localization algorithms to navigate to way-points in an indoor environment without leveraging an external motion capture system. Indoor aerial robots often require a motion capture system for localization or employ simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithms for navigation. The proposed strategy for GT-MAB localization can be accomplished using lightweight sensors on a weight-constrained platform like the GT-MAB. We train an end-to-end convolutional neural network (CNN) that predicts the horizontal position and heading of the GT-MAB using video collected by an onboard monocular RGB camera. On the other hand, the height of the GT-MAB is estimated from measurements through a time-of-flight (ToF) single-beam laser sensor. The monocular camera and the single-beam laser sensor are sufficient for the localization algorithm to localize the GT-MAB in real time, achieving the averaged 3D positioning errors to be less than 20 cm, and the averaged heading errors to be less than 3 degrees. With the accuracy of our proposed localization method, we are able to use simple proportional-integral-derivative controllers to control the GT-MAB for waypoint navigation. Experimental results on the waypoint following are provided, which demonstrates the use of a CNN as the primary localization method for estimating the pose of an indoor robot that successfully enables navigation to specified waypoints.