Aerial imaging and reconstruction of infrastructures by UAVs

This chapter presents a compilation of experimental field trials aiming vision-based reconstruction of large-scale infrastructures using micro aerial vehicles (MAVs). The main focus of this study is on the sensor selection, the data-set generation and on the computer vision algorithms for generating three-dimensional (3D) models. In general, MAVs are distinguished for their ability to fly at various speeds, to stabilise their position and to perform manoeuvres close to large-scale infrastructures. The aforementioned merits constitute aerial robots a highly paced evolving robotic platform for infrastructure inspection and maintenance tasks. Different MAV solutions with task-oriented sensory modalities can be developed to address unique tasks, such as 3D modelling of infrastructures. In this chapter, aerial agents navigate around/ along different environments, while collecting visual data for post-processing using structure from motion (SfM) and multi-view stereo (MVS) techniques to generate 3D models [1,2]. The proposed framework has been successfully experimentally demonstrated in real indoor, outdoor and subterranean environments.