UAV Detection and Tracking with a Robotic Telescope System

Abstract

Drones and other types of unmanned areal vehicles (UAVs) gained massive population in recent years and the availability of UAVs to the large mass poses opportunities for potential misuse. Therefore, UAV detection systems for real time threat assessment are in high demand. Commercial systems which utilize optical identification are currently limited to only about 1 to 2 km leaving very little time to prepare for appropriate counter measures. This publication investigates a new approach consisting of a commercially available telescope and mount (ASA Astrosysteme, Austria) precisely actuated based on the information extracted by advanced computer vision algorithms to increase the optical detection range. To meet the new requirements of optical UAV tracking, the developed prototype is adapted to support higher rotational speeds and accelerations while maintaining the tracking precision. The integrated camera system provides real time availability of high-quality images of unidentified objects. Successful tracking of an UAV flying at 200~km/h at a distance beyond 2km, requires a telescope with a focal length of 480~mm, fast and precise motion control of the mount, a camera with a full format sensor and a resolution of 3840x2160 pixel. Additionally, the camera has to support 120~FPS to operate well above the expected Nyquist frequency. The proposed system will allow to increase the optical detection range significantly making early threat assessment possible.