Use of Cooperative Unmanned Air and Ground Vehicles for Detection and Disposal of Simulated Mines

The aerial vehicle used in this research is a Miniature Aircraft Gas Xcell RC helicopter. It is outfitted with a sensor payload containing stereo vision cameras, GPS, and a digital compass. Geo-referenced images are gathered using the above sensors that will be used in this research to create a map of the operating region. The ground vehicle used in this research is an automated Suzuki Mini-Quad ATV. It has the following onboard sensors: single-vision camera, laser range device, digital compass, GPS, and an encoder. The ground vehicle will use the above sensors and the map provided by the helicopter to traverse the region, locate and isolate simulated land mines. The base station consists of a laptop that provides a communication link between the aerial and ground vehicle systems. It also provides the operator with system operation information and statistics.