Aerial Multi-Camera Robotic Jib Crane

• Published in: IEEE robotics and automation letters Vol. 6; no. 2; pp. 4103 - 4108
• Main Authors: Moreno, Patricio, Presenza, Juan Francisco, Mas, Ignacio, Giribet, Juan Ignacio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Piscataway IEEE 01-04-2021; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: aerial robotics; Aerial videography; autonomous cinematography; Cameras; Cinematography; cluster-space control; Collision avoidance; Cranes; multi-robot systems; Optimization; Robot kinematics; Robot vision systems; Robots; Trajectory; Unmanned aerial vehicles; Virtual cameras; Visibility
• ISSN: 2377-3766; 2377-3766
• DOI: 10.1109/LRA.2021.3065299

A formulation based on a team of unmanned aerial vehicles operating as a fully articulated multi-camera jib crane is proposed for the application of aerial cinematography. An optimization-based controller commands the formation to follow an artistic trajectory defined by the director of photography, while actively avoiding collisions and cameras' mutual visibility. The proposed scheme, based on the cluster-space formulation, presents an intuitive way of maneuvering the virtual camera fixture while automatically adjusting the motions by imposing artistic and safety constraints, facilitating the operator task.