GNSS-Independent Navigation
Visual landmark detection for GPS-denied environments
Overview
A navigation system that uses visual landmark detection to enable navigation in GPS-denied or degraded environments.
Problem Statement
Traditional GPS-based navigation fails in indoor environments, urban canyons, and jamming scenarios. Alternative navigation methods using visual landmarks provide a robust backup.
Technical Approach
Implemented YOLOv5 for real-time landmark detection and recognition. Combined visual detection with known landmark positions to estimate vehicle location without GPS.
Key Features
- YOLOv5 landmark detection
- Real-time video processing
- Landmark-based positioning
- GPS-denied navigation capability
- Cross-platform deployment
Challenges & Learnings
Training reliable landmark detectors required extensive data collection and annotation. Achieving real-time performance while maintaining detection accuracy was a key optimization goal.
Outcome
Developed a proof-of-concept system demonstrating visual navigation capabilities as part of the SAYZEK 2024 competition project.