Runway Detection and Tracking for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Based on an Improved Canny Edge Detection Algorithm

A new method based on an improved canny edge detection algorithm for the runway detection and tracking was presented in this paper. Though the traditional Canny Operator has high edge detection capability, it still can be interfered by grave image noise, as its detection accuracy cannot reach single pixel. This paper presented one method that combined Canny Operator with mean filter to represent the runway edge accurately. Then Hough Transform and Chain-Code was used for runway tracking. Experimental results show that this method can have better detection and tracking effect, besides the processing speed is also improved, that laid a favorable foundation for UAV visual navigation.