Visual pose estimation for shipboard landing of autonomous parafoils
This paper outlines an investigation into the use of a simple, focal-plane imaging sensor for guidance of an autonomous parafoil system for approach and landing on a moving platform such as a ship underway. The perspective-projective transformation between an object in a three-dimensional world and an image on a two-dimensional plane is analyzed and then formulated using a homogeneous coordinate system. The estimation problem is addressed; specifically, the challenge of dealing with the out-of-frame condition due to parafoil oscillation as it approaches the target. A dual-mode Kalman estimation-scheme is proposed that suspends measurement when the target is out-of-frame, and incorporates a two-view measurement when the target reenters the frame.
Shipboard Landing Challenges for Autonomous Parafoils
This paper examines some of the challenges that must be overcome if future aerial delivery systems are to have the capability to land on the flight deck of a ship underway. The unique aspects of trajectory planning for landing on a ship’s flight deck are first examined, followed by formulation of the position estimation problem for a moving target. Some preliminary investigations into characterizing the wind over a moving landing platform at sea are then described. Finally, experimental results are presented for testing of a small prototype autonomous parafoil with a simple moving target on land.
Tourism in the Amazon: identifying challenges and finding solutions
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the tourism sector in the Amazon regions of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Suriname and then discuss the manner in which tourism activity assists the protection of the Amazon rainforests. The paper also describes the manner in which the first World Hospitality and Tourism Themes Roundtable on Tourism in the Amazon is organized in 2009.Design/methodology/approach – Teams of researchers from the Ministries of Tourism, the private sector and academia in the Member Countries of Treaty for Amazon Cooperation collaborated to address, in ten‐page papers, the question “Does sustainable tourism offer solutions for the protection of the Amazon rainforest?”Findings – The paper provides valuable information on the current state of tourism policy and practice in the Amazon Member Countries. It also articulates the challenges that attend the development of sustainable tourism as a mechanism for the protection of the Amazon.Practical...