optiPilot: control of take-off and landing using optic flow

Take-off and landing manoeuvres are critical for MAVs because GPS-based autopilots usually do not perceive distance to the ground or other potential obstacles. In addition, attitude estimates based on inertial sensors are often perturbed by the strong accelerations occurring during launch. This paper shows how our previously developed control strategy, called optiPilot, can cope with take-off and landing using a small set of inexpensive optic flow sensors.