Paper ID: 2409.15914

Exploring the potential of collaborative UAV 3D mapping in Kenyan savanna for wildlife research

Vandita Shukla, Luca Morelli, Pawel Trybala, Fabio Remondino, Wentian Gan, Yifei Yu, Xin Wang

UAV-based biodiversity conservation applications have exhibited many data acquisition advantages for researchers. UAV platforms with embedded data processing hardware can support conservation challenges through 3D habitat mapping, surveillance and monitoring solutions. High-quality real-time scene reconstruction as well as real-time UAV localization can optimize the exploration vs exploitation balance of single or collaborative mission. In this work, we explore the potential of two collaborative frameworks - Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (V-SLAM) and Structure-from-Motion (SfM) for 3D mapping purposes and compare results with standard offline approaches.

Submitted: Sep 24, 2024