Gimbal Tracking Control with Delayed Feedback of Target Information

Abstract

In this paper, a power limited platform equipped with a gimbaled camera communicating with a remote station is considered. Sequence of the acquired images is downloaded to the station, and it specifies target of interest in the images. Then, target information, i.e., pixel coordinate of target in image, is sent back to the camera so image processor built in it can start target tracking and gimbal control. In this way, the burdensome task of specifying target is offloaded to the station, where task of tracking the specified target is operated by the camera. The target information is sent only once per target when the station assigns or reassigns the target to monitor. However, delay of the target information, invoked by the bandwidth limitation of the channel to the station, can disturb the image processor to start tracking. Therefore, we propose a method to remove the delay, using two image tracking tasks and an image buffer built in the camera. In addition, using the method, speed of the gimbal can be adjusted for reducing the risk of missing the target due to the camera motion.