**1. Introduction**

Equipping unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) such as quadrocopters with more and more autonomous abilities is an interesting field of research. Furthermore, it is a requirement for challenging autonomous search and rescue missions, which are still a field of interest [1–14]. Especially,fullyautonomous systemsare challengingsince theycannotrelyonexternal systems like Global Positioning System (GPS) or optical tracking for accurate positioning. State of the art is the usage of a laser scanner for obstacle detection, collision avoidance and via a simulta‐ neous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithm for positioning [15, 16]. But laser scanners are heavy, expensive and fail in some situations like a smoking environment. Other ap‐ proaches are vision based, but the high computational burden often requires an external computer for computation [17–19].

Therefore, a solution for a fully autonomous system is presented using a new hardware design combining optical and PMD cameras with infrared and ultrasonic distance holders for a reliable system capable of search and rescue missions. This chapter focuses on the concept, implementation and evaluation of the search, count and localization of red balls (example search targets) with the mentioned autonomous system based on an innovative new hardware design.

In a preliminary calibration scan, the parameters of the object are defined: a red ball is used as an example object. The scan determines the colour and radius of the ball. The implementation and principles of the object recognition and search will be described in detail. After determin‐ ing the scanning parameters, the autonomous search can be executed. This is done autono‐ mously by the quadrocopter, which uses inertial, infrared, ultrasonic, pressure and optical flow sensors to determine and control its orientation and position in six DOF (degree of freedom).

This research is part of the AQopterI8 Project of the Chair Aerospace Information from the University of Würzburg [20].
