Kinetic Controlled Flying of Micro Air Vehicles (MAV) for Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR)

We present a hands-free kinetic control method for flying of micro air vehicles (MAVs) or small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for public protection and disaster relief (PPDR). The system combines a 3D depth-sensing camera with a low-cost drone. The solution is based on Delicode Ltd’s NI mateTM software toolkit. In a study with 10 participants, the kinetic control method was tested and compared with the drone’s normal control mode. The speed to fly a certain path inside a building, and the path accuracy at checkpoints were compared between these two modes. The learning rate with the kinetic control method was found to be better than by normal control. After five attempts, an overall flying speed and path accuracy were still weaker by kinetic control method than by conventional hands-on method. However, hands-free control gives several significant benefits for PPDR applications.