Grants and Contributions:

Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year (2017-2018 to 2018-2019).

AltumView Systems Inc. is a fast-growing company in metro Vancouver, and has assembled a strong R&Dx000D
team of more than 10 people with complementary expertise in image and video coding and processing,x000D
computer vision, artificial intelligence, and camera design. AltumView is developing innovative intelligentx000D
camera products and solutions for applications such as machine vision, security and surveillance, intelligentx000D
transportation, etc. AltumView is now aiming at integrating the developed camera system into various dronex000D
systems to enable more meaningful applications. However, the company currently does not have enoughx000D
development expertise in the drone navigation and control areas. In the collaborative project we plan tox000D
develop the computer vision-based intelligent control system for AltumView's drone customers.x000D
According to the two identified problems from the company, this project will target at the following two tasksx000D
during the six-month time-frame: (1) To develop the computer vision-based object tracking algorithm for thex000D
drone, and (2) to develop the computer vision-based obstacle avoidance algorithm for the drone. By integratingx000D
advanced control technology with computer vision technology, the drone system can achieve satisfactoryx000D
control performance with inexpensive vision sensors and even in severe working condition such asx000D
GPS-denied, which broaden the range and enhance the performance in commercial or industrial applications.x000D
New and strong collaborative relationship will be established through this project. The proposed project wouldx000D
fill in the gap between theory and practice; it would provide new, effective and cross-disciplinary technicalx000D
tools for control engineers in developing the drone flight control systems; finally, it would benefit thex000D
corresponding industry in Canada. Under the supervision of the applicant and the AltumView mentor (Designx000D
Engineer), two graduate students will receive research training and gain hands-on control system designx000D
experience from this project.