An unmanned aerial vehicle target azimuth angle calculation method based on infrared and visible light fusion images

By fusing infrared and visible light images and transforming coordinate systems, the problems of low accuracy and poor robustness in calculating the target azimuth angle of small UAVs have been solved, achieving high-precision and stable target detection, especially with stronger anti-interference capabilities in complex environments.

CN122244143APending Publication Date: 2026-06-19ZHEJIANG UNIV
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Patent Information

Authority / Receiving Office
CN Β· China
Patent Type
Applications(China)
Current Assignee / Owner
ZHEJIANG UNIV
Filing Date
2026-01-26
Publication Date
2026-06-19

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Small fixed-wing UAVs, due to the lack of gimbal design and low-cost inertial measurement units, have large attitude measurement errors, resulting in low accuracy and poor robustness in target azimuth angle calculation, making it difficult to maintain stable target detection capabilities, especially in complex environments.

Method used

Infrared and visible light image fusion technology is adopted, and image fusion is performed through an end-to-end deep neural network. The target recognition and localization are combined with the YOLOv8 model. The coordinate system transformation is performed using the camera intrinsic and installation extrinsic matrix. Finally, the target azimuth angle is calculated, and the navigation transformation is performed using the NED coordinate system to achieve high-precision azimuth angle calculation.

Benefits of technology

It significantly improves the reliability and confidence of target detection, reduces the uncertainty of azimuth angle calculation, and enhances robustness to platform attitude disturbances. Through Monte Carlo simulation verification, the fused image shows higher detection consistency and lower statistical uncertainty in complex environments.

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Abstract

This invention discloses a method for calculating the azimuth angle of a UAV target based on a fused infrared and visible light image, belonging to the field of UAV direction finding. The method includes: fusing an infrared image and a visible light image acquired by the UAV to obtain a fused image; performing target detection based on the fused image and extracting the pixel center coordinates of the target bounding box; transforming the pixel center coordinates to the camera coordinate system according to the camera intrinsic parameter matrix, and obtaining the line-of-sight direction unit vector in the camera coordinate system through normalization; further rotating the line-of-sight direction unit vector in the camera coordinate system to the navigation coordinate system by combining the camera mounting extrinsic parameter rotation matrix and the UAV attitude angle obtained from real-time monitoring; extracting the north component of the line-of-sight direction unit vector in the navigation coordinate system, and calculating the azimuth angle of the target relative to true north. This invention significantly reduces the uncertainty of azimuth angle calculation and improves the detection rate and robustness.
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