# The Use of Multi-Scale Fiducial Markers To Aid Takeoff and Landing Navigation by Rotorcraft

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.08769 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.08769/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 10 of its 17 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 15 Sep 2023.

## Builds on (most cited first, 10 of 10)

- [ORB-SLAM3: An Accurate Open-Source Library for Visual, Visual-Inertial and Multi-Map SLAM](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2007.11898/) (2020)
- [ORB-SLAM2: an Open-Source SLAM System for Monocular, Stereo and RGB-D Cameras](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1610.06475/) (2016)
- [Visual-Inertial Navigation: A Concise Review](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.02650/) (2019)
- [Visual-Inertial Odometry of Aerial Robots](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.03289/) (2019)
- [UcoSLAM: Simultaneous Localization and Mapping by Fusion of KeyPoints and Squared Planar Markers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1902.03729/) (2019)
- [TagSLAM: Robust SLAM with Fiducial Markers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.00679/) (2019)
- [WOLF: A modular estimation framework for robotics based on factor graphs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.12919/) (2021)
- [Extrinsic Calibration of Multiple Inertial Sensors from Arbitrary Trajectories](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.14724/) (2022)
- [Autonomous Drone Landing with Fiducial Markers and a Gimbal-Mounted Camera for Active Tracking](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.04617/) (2022)
- [Comparative Study of Visual SLAM-Based Mobile Robot Localization Using Fiducial Markers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.04441/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Visual Marker Search for Autonomous Drone Landing in Diverse Urban Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.11078/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

This paper quantifies the performance of visual SLAM that leverages multi-scale fiducial markers (i.e., artificial landmarks that can be detected at a wide range of distances) to show its potential for reliable takeoff and landing navigation in rotorcraft. Prior work has shown that square markers with a black-and-white pattern of grid cells can be used to improve the performance of visual SLAM with color cameras. We extend this prior work to allow nested marker layouts. We evaluate performance during semi-autonomous takeoff and landing operations in a variety of environmental conditions by a DJI Matrice 300 RTK rotorcraft with two FLIR Blackfly color cameras, using RTK GNSS to obtain ground truth pose estimates. Performance measures include absolute trajectory error and the fraction of the number of estimated poses to the total frame. We release all of our results -- our dataset and the code of the implementation of the visual SLAM with fiducial markers -- to the public as open-source.