Real-time planning for automated multi-view drone cinematography

• DOI: 10.1145/3072959.3073712
• Publication Date: 2017-07-21T12:24:07Z
• Authors: Tobias Nägeli; Lukas Meier; Alexander Domahidi; Javier Alonso-Mora; Otmar Hilliges
• Keywords: Drone; Quadcopter; Videography; Workaround

We propose a method for automated aerial videography in dynamic and cluttered environments. An online receding horizon optimization formulation facilitates the planning process novices experts alike. The algorithm takes high-level plans as input, which we dub virtual rails, alongside interactively defined aesthetic framing objectives jointly solves 3D quadcopter motion associated velocities. generates control inputs subject to constraints of non-linear quadrotor model imposed by actors moving an priori unknown way. output are physically feasible, length, apply resulting directly at each time-step, without requiring separate trajectory tracking algorithm. nature enables incorporation feedback into loop, makes robust disturbances. Furthermore, extend include coordination between multiple drones enable multi-view shots, typical action sequences live TV coverage. runs real-time on standard hardware computes several order milliseconds. Finally, evaluate approach qualitatively with number challenging involving characterize computational performance experimentally.