Flight Test Results of a 2D Snapshot Hover*

The viability of using visual snapshots to sense and control the hover of a Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) is considered. A new algorithm is proposed that uses a stored image or 'snapshot' of the ground directly under the MAV as a visual anchor point. For hover control, adjacent frames are used to calculate the velocity of the MAV for providing speed feedback and the absolute position error feedback of the MAV is calculated by directly comparing the subsequent frames with the stored snapshot. Flight tests in both indoor and outdoor environments demonstrate the ability of the proposed method to effectively check long-term drift of the vehicle on well textured ground against light wind disturbance.