Assessment of the Kinematic Parameters of Distant Noncooperative Objects

Lovro Kuščer,Janez Diaci

doi:10.1155/2013/247676

Abstract

The paper presents a method and a system for assessing the kinematic parameters of distant noncooperative objects. An experimental measuring system was developed using a long distance laser rangefinder, a GPS receiver, an electronic inclinometer, and a CCD camera mounted on a motorized pan-tilt unit. During the measurement process, the system first establishes its position and orientation in a global coordinate system. Particle filtering approach based on adaptive template matching is used to track a moving object of interest in the acquired digital image sequence. The tracking and rangefinder data is employed to determine in real time the relative position of the object, thus obtaining its 3D trajectory and velocity. To enable repetitive range measurements, the tracking data is also used to actuate the pan-tilt unit directing the rangefinder towards the object. Experiments are presented which demonstrate the performance of the system for characterization of movement of vehicles and people at kilometer-range distances.

Highlights

The characterization of the movement of different noncooperative objects has been the focus of studies in different fields
An experimental measuring system was developed using a long distance laser rangefinder, a GPS receiver, an electronic inclinometer, and a CCD camera mounted on a motorized pan-tilt unit
Particle filtering approach based on adaptive template matching is used to track a moving object of interest in the acquired digital image sequence

Summary

Introduction

The characterization of the movement of different noncooperative objects has been the focus of studies in different fields. The majority of studies in the fields of people tracking and traffic monitoring perform the movement characterization at relatively small ranges since the measuring range is often limited by the employed laser scanners which are capable of measuring distances of only a few hundred meters. The term noncooperative refers to the fact that the objects of interest are not marked, prepared, or equipped in any way that would facilitate the measuring process To achieve this functionality, we combine a long distance laser rangefinder with a custom visual tracking system. This enables the exploitation of efficient tracking algorithms to maintain the orientation of the laser rangefinder’s optical axis towards the distant object In this way, the repeated measurements of Advances in Mechanical Engineering the object’s relative position are performed.

Experimental System

Experiments

Findings

Conclusion