Abstract
The key to successful maneuvering complex extended object tracking (MCEOT) using range extent measurements provided by high resolution sensors lies in accurate and effective modeling of both the extension dynamics and the centroid kinematics. During object maneuvers, the extension dynamics of an object with a complex shape is highly coupled with the centroid kinematics. However, this difficult but important problem is rarely considered and solved explicitly. In view of this, this paper proposes a general approach to modeling a maneuvering complex extended object based on Minkowski sum, so that the coupled turn maneuvers in both the centroid states and extensions can be described accurately. The new model has a concise and unified form, in which the complex extension dynamics can be simply and jointly characterized by multiple simple sub-objects’ extension dynamics based on Minkowski sum. The proposed maneuvering model fits range extent measurements very well due to its favorable properties. Based on this model, an MCEOT algorithm dealing with motion and extension maneuvers is also derived. Two different cases of the turn maneuvers with known/unknown turn rates are specifically considered. The proposed algorithm which jointly estimates the kinematic state and the object extension can also be easily implemented. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed modeling and tracking approaches.
Highlights
In traditional radar- and sonar-based tracking applications, most target tracking approaches usually made the assumption that the received measurement originated from a point source at each time, i.e., a target is often regarded as a point source
The proposed Minkowski-sum-based maneuvering modeling is applied to the maneuvering complex extended object tracking (MCEOT) using range extent measurements, and the following three simulation scenarios of MCEOT are considered
MCEOT-1: The proposed approach based on Minkowski sum considering the highly coupled dynamics of both the state and the extension
Summary
In traditional radar- and sonar-based tracking applications, most target tracking approaches usually made the assumption that the received measurement originated from a point source at each time, i.e., a target is often regarded as a point source. With the increased resolution capability of modern sensors, an object should be regarded as extended if one target occupies more than one resolution cell or its extent is not negligible compared with the sensor resolution [2,3]. Some high resolution radars can resolve individual features on an extended object and provide its kinematic measurements. Target detection, classification and tracking require more and more knowledge of the object extension information in practical applications.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
