An Autonomous Fixed-Wing UAV System for Automatic Payload Delivery and Linear Surveillance
Corresponding author: Shilpa Karegoudra
Abstract
This paper describes the development of an autonomous fixed-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) system designed for linear area monitoring and precise payload distribution. The proposed system can be implemented in border surveillance, precision agriculture, and disaster response scenarios by integrating a servo-based payload drop mechanism, GPS waypoint navigation, and real-time image capture. It is ideal for long-distance missions due to its fixed-wing configuration, allowing longer flying times. Post-flight, to create panoramic picture mosaics, recorded videos are processed using computer vision techniques, namely Scale-Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) and homography methods. The ground evaluations verified the UAV's capacity to fly steadily, deliver payloads precisely, and process images. Consequently, it demonstrated for the first time in a lightweight, low-cost fixed-wing platform, the integration of fully autonomous waypoint-guided payload delivery and image-based linear surveillance within a single mission. This dual-function capability, validated through real-world flight tests and panoramic mapping, offers a scalable solution for fast deployment in disaster relief, border security, and precision agriculture.
Keywords:
fixed-wing UAV, autonomous payload delivery, linear surveillance, Gps navigation, servo mechanism, image stitching, computer vision, SIFT, panoramic mappingDownloads
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Copyright (c) 2025 R. K. Veeresha, S. H. Sinchana, Bhoomika Rao, K. Anindya Hegde, M. S. Shravya, K. K. Sanketh, Shilpa Karegoudra
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