Multiple Maneuvering Target Tracking Using a Single Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Abstract

This paper solves the problem of tracking multiple maneuvering ground targets using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The targets are widespread so that they may not be covered by the UAV’s detection range simultaneously. Such a strategy is applied in which, whenever it is unable to detect all the targets, the UAV temporarily covers only some of the targets and goes back to the lost targets later. A recursive Bayesian estimation algorithm is proposed to keep track of the lost targets; a guidance objective function is then formulated to minimize the tracking uncertainty. By integrating the proposed estimation and the guidance methods, an efficient closed-loop multitarget tracking algorithm is developed. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated with illustrative numerical examples.