Pose Estimation and Tracking for ASIST
This addresses the challenge of reducing operator uncertainty and cognitive load during helicopter recoveries on ships, but it is incremental as it applies existing methods to a new domain.
The authors tackled the problem of manually tracking helicopters on ships by developing a prototype system called PETA, which uses computer vision algorithms to estimate and track helicopter poses in real-time, restoring the originally intended capability of the ASIST system.
Aircraft Ship Integrated Secure and Traverse (ASIST) is a system designed to arrest helicopters safely and efficiently on ships. Originally, a precision Helicopter Position Sensing Equipment (HPSE) tracked and monitored the position of the helicopter relative to the Rapid Securing Device (RSD). However, using the HPSE component was determined to be infeasible in the transition of the ASIST system due to the hardware installation requirements. As a result, sailors track the position of the helicopters with their eyes with no sensor or artificially intelligent decision aid. Manually tracking the helicopter takes additional time and makes recoveries more difficult, especially at high sea states. Performing recoveries without the decision aid leads to higher uncertainty and cognitive load. PETA (Pose Estimation and Tracking for ASIST) is a research effort to create a helicopter tracking system prototype without hardware installation requirements for ASIST system operators. Its overall goal is to improve situational awareness and reduce operator uncertainty with respect to the aircrafts position relative to the RSD, and consequently increase the allowable landing area. The authors produced a prototype system capable of tracking helicopters with respect to the RSD. The software included a helicopter pose estimation component, camera pose estimation component, and a user interface component. PETA demonstrated the potential for state-of-the-art computer vision algorithms Faster R-CNN and HRNet (High-Resolution Network) to be used to estimate the pose of helicopters in real-time, returning ASIST to its originally intended capability. PETA also demonstrated that traditional methods of encoder-decoders could be used to estimate the orientation of the helicopter and could be used to confirm the output from HRNet.