A multiple-UAV architecture for autonomous media production

Cinematography with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is an emerging technology promising to revolutionize media production. On the one hand, manually controlled drones already provide advantages, such as flexible shot setup, opportunities for novel shot types and access to difficult-to-reach spaces a...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Mademlis, Ioannis, Torres González, Arturo Eugenio, Capitán Fernández, Jesús
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/136226
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/11441/136226
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-022-13319-8
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Multiple-UAV cooperation
Media production
UAV cinematography
Autonomous drones
Descripción
Sumario:Cinematography with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is an emerging technology promising to revolutionize media production. On the one hand, manually controlled drones already provide advantages, such as flexible shot setup, opportunities for novel shot types and access to difficult-to-reach spaces and/or viewpoints. Moreover, little additional ground infrastructure is required. On the other hand, enhanced UAV cognitive autonomy would allow both easier cinematography planning (from the Director’s perspective) and safer execution of that plan during actual filming; while integrating multiple UAVs can additionally augment the cinematic potential. In this paper, a novel multiple-UAV software/hardware architecture for media production in outdoor settings is proposed. The architecture encompasses mission planning and control under safety constraints, enhanced cognitive autonomy through visual analysis, human-computer interfaces and communication infrastructure for platform scalability with Quality-of-Service provisions. Finally, the architecture is demonstrated via a relevant subjective study on the adequacy of UAV and camera parameters for different cinematography shot types, as well as with field experiments where multiple UAVs film outdoor sports events.