Dynamic Camera Planning for Robot-Integrated Manufacturing Processes Using an UAV

The optimal viewpoint for monitoring robotic production processes is crucial for maintenance, inspection, and error handling, especially in large-scale production facilities, as it maximizes visual information. This paper presents a method for dynamic camera planning using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), enabling collision-free operation and measurable, high perspective coverage for a user-defined Region of Interest (ROI). Therefore, optimal viewpoints are searched with a greedy search algorithm and a decision for the optimal viewpoint is derived. The method is implemented within a simulation framework in Unity and evaluated in a robotic palletizing application. Results show that the use of an UAV as dynamic camera achieves up to twice the perspective coverage during continuous flight compared to the current capabilities of static cameras.