Robust Tracking Research Articles

Analysis and design of antithetic proportional-integral-derivative biocontrol-systems with species dilution

The nonlinearity and non-separability of the antithetic PID (aPID) controller have provided greater flexibility in the design of biochemical reaction networks (BCRNs), resulting in significant impacts on biocontrol-systems. Nevertheless, the dilution of control species is disregarded in designs of aPID controllers, which would lead to the failure of inhibition mechanism in the controller and loss of robust perfect adaptation (RPA)—the biological counterpart of robust steady-state tracking. Here, the impact of dilution processes on the structure of aPID is investigated in this study. It is discovered that the proportional and low-pass filters are altered when the dilution processes is present in control species, which increases the coupling between the controller parameters. Moreover, additional integrations for the reference signal and control output generated by control species dilution further leads to the loss of RPA. Subsequently, a novel aPID controller represented by BCRNs, termed quasi-aPID, has been designed to eliminate the detrimental effects of the dilution processes. In an effort to ameliorate the interdependencies among controller parameters, a degradation inhibition mechanism is employed within this controller. Furthermore, this work establishes the limiting relationship between the controller’s reaction rates in order to guarantee RPA, while abstaining from the introduction of supplementary species and biochemical reactions. By using the quasi-aPID controller in both the Escherichia coli gene expression model and the whole-body cholesterol metabolism model, its effectiveness is confirmed. Simulation results demonstrate that, the quasi-aPID exhibits a smaller absolute steady-state error in both models and guarantees the RPA property.

Robust tracking control of a minimal realization model of an impaired human hand for anthropomorphic coordination

Objective Physiologically relevant optimal controllers better represent the decision-making process of the central nervous system (CNS) with proper neural inputs and proprioceptor feedback. A biomechanical mathematical framework in the human palm reference frame was simulated using physiological dynamics to explore the biomechanics of movement coordination of fingers in a human hand.Method Physiological state space models include multiple zero eigenvalues, representing a redundant system. A fingertip trajectory tracking control paradigm is created by reducing the model order through the H∞ control paradigm. The external disturbances and sensory noise are included in the 21-Degrees-of-Freedom biomechanical model.Main Results An analysis is conducted on the flexion movement of the robotic finger when it is disrupted from its initial equilibrium position. The controller administers feedback force at the joints to control the movement of the robotic finger. A full order H∞ robust controller was developed, and the results were compared with the reduced-order model. The model order was reduced from 21 to 18 states. A reference trajectory is followed by the index finger in the minimal realization model, which is derived from the joint angular position profile. It stabilizes at a flexion angle of 1 rad/sec within 2 sec. Studying the simpler form of a model first gives a realistic view of the more complex model. This study has the potential to enhance our comprehension of anthropomorphic movement coordination in hands with impairments in kinesiology, ergonomics, assistive technology, and prosthetic devices.

Event-Based Guidance and Incremental Control with Application to Fixed-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Perched Landing Maneuvers

Considering the nonlinearity and unknown dynamics of fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles in perched landing maneuvers, an event-based online guidance and incremental control scheme is proposed. The guidance trajectory for perched landing must be dynamically feasible therefore an event-based trapezoidal collocation point optimization method is proposed. Introduction of the triggering mechanism for the rational use of computing resources to improve PL accuracy. Furthermore, a filter-based incremental nonlinear dynamic inverse (F-INDI) control with state transformation is proposed to achieve robust trajectory tracking under high angle of attack (AOA). The F-INDI uses low-pass filters to obtain incremental dynamics of the system, which simplifies the design process. The state transformation strategy is to convert the flight-path angle, AOA and velocity into two composite dynamics, which avoids the sign reversal problem of control gain under high AOA. The stability analysis shows that the original states can be controlled only by controlling the composite state. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme achieves high perched landing accuracy and a reliable trajectory tracking control.

A Novel Sea Target Tracking Algorithm for Multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Considering Attitude Error in Low-Precision Geodetic Coordinate Environments

Geodetic coordinate information and attitude information of the observation platform are necessary for multi-UAV position alignment and target tracking. In a complex sea environment, the navigation equipment of a UAV is susceptible to interference. High-precision geodetic coordinate information and attitude information are difficult to obtain. Aiming to solve the above problems, a low-precision geodetic coordinate real-time systematic spatial registration algorithm based on multi-UAV observation and an improved robust fusion tracking algorithm of multi-UAV to sea targets considering attitude error are proposed. The spatial registration algorithm obtains the observation information of the same target based on the mutual observation information. Then, geodetic coordinate systematic error is accurately estimated by establishing the systematic error estimation measurement equation. The improved robust fusion tracking algorithm considers the influence of UAV attitude error in the observation. The simulation experiment and practical experiment show that the algorithm can not only estimate systematic error accurately but also improve tracking accuracy.

The Application of Blockchain Technology in Enterprise Value Chain Cost Management

This paper examines the application of blockchain technology in managing costs across the enterprise value chain. A literature review analyzes current research on blockchain-based supply chain management and cost optimization models. The methodology employs a case study approach to evaluate the implementation of blockchain platforms in reducing transaction fees, enhancing transparency, and streamlining operations. Results demonstrate measurable improvements in cost-efficiency, reporting accuracy, and partner collaboration. Tables illustrate quantitative impacts in areas including inventory holding reductions, contract enforcement savings, and lowered IT expenses. Findings suggest blockchain solutions enable robust tracking and coordination of end-to-end workflows, although further integration work is needed. In conclusion, blockchain technology shows promise in transforming enterprise value chains to be more responsive and economical.

Model-free low-power observer based robust trajectory tracking control of UAV quadrotor with unknown disturbances

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to design an output-feedback algorithm based on low-power observer (LPO), robust chattering-free controller and nonlinear disturbance observer (DO) to achieve trajectory tracking of quadrotor in the Cartesian plane.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve trajectory tracking control, firstly the decoupled rotational and translational model of quadrotor are modified by introducing backstepped state-space variables. In the second step, robust integral sliding mode control is designed based on the proportional-integral-derivative (PID) technique. In the third step, a DO is constructed. In next step, the measurable outputs, i.e. rotational and translational state variables, are used to design the LPO. Finally, in the control algorithm all state variables and its rates are replaced with its estimates obtained using the state-observer.FindingsThe finding includes output-feedback control (OFC) algorithm designed by using a LPO. A modified backstepping model for rotational and rotational systems is developed prior to the design of integral sliding mode control based on PID technique. Unlike traditional high-gain observers (HGO), this paper used the LPO for state estimation of quadrotor systems to solve the problem of peaking phenomenon in HGO. Furthermore, a nonlinear DO is designed such that it attenuates disturbance with unknown magnitude and frequency. Moreover, a chattering reduction criterion has been introduced to solve the inherited chattering issue of controllers based on sliding mode technique.Practical implicationsThis paper presents input and output data-driven model-free control algorithm. That is, only input and output of the quadrotor model are required to achieve the trajectory tracking control. Therefore, for practical implementation, the number of on-board sensor is reduced.Originality/valueAlthough extensive research has been done for designing OFC algorithms for quadrotor, LPO has never been implemented for the rotational and translational state estimations of quadrotor. Furthermore, the mathematical model of rotational and translational systems is modified by using backstepped variables followed by the controller designed using PID and integral sliding mode control technique. Moreover, a DO is developed for attenuation of disturbance with unknown bound, magnitude and frequency.

Three‐dimensional path following control of underactuated autonomous underwater vehicles with nonzero roll dynamics: A novel line‐of‐sight‐guided approach

AbstractMost existing path following control approaches for underactuated Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) assumed that the roll angle can be passively stabilized at zero, and simplified the problem to the 5‐degree‐of‐freedom model. However, in practice, the roll motion suffers from undesirable oscillations induced by environmental disturbances, unbalanced propeller torque, etc. To preserve the stability of the system under nonzero roll dynamics, this paper proposes a novel line‐of‐sight‐ (LOS) guided path following control approach. Firstly, the spatial path following error dynamics model is derived to comprehensively reveal the negative effect of roll dynamics. Secondly, an improved LOS guidance law is designed to compensate for the nonzero roll angle. A salient feature is that the proposed guidance law can be applied to the underwater vehicle no matter it is underactuated in the roll motion or not. Thirdly, by assigning the guidance angles to the desired attitude angles, a robust attitude tracking controller is developed, in which the adaptive estimation technique is employed to handle the lumped uncertainties. The tanh‐based saturation function is incorporated such that the resultant control signals are inherently bounded. The closed‐loop path following and attitude tracking errors are proved to be globally asymptotically stable at the origin. Comparative simulation results are provided to substantiate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method.

Vision-based UAV adaptive tracking control for moving targets with velocity observation

An adaptive image-based visual servoing (IBVS) controller is designed for a quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to achieve robust tracking for moving targets, under underactuation and tight coupling constraints of UAV kinematics. Specifically, image features are selected from perspective image moments of a planar target to obtain virtual feature dynamics regarding UAV kinematics and dynamics. By constructing an auxiliary variable, a translational velocity observer for moving target is constructed by using virtual image features. An IBVS tracking controller is designed without target geometric information by combining UAV and visual feature dynamics. Designed controller and observer make the UAV robustly reach desired height and track the moving target, despite uncertainty of target movement. The controller has asymptotical convergence performance, and the target velocity is observed according to Lyapunov stability analysis. Simulation and experimental results show that the proposed method has smoother and more accurate performance in motion tracking and target velocity prediction under system uncertainty.

Customized Tracking Algorithm for Robust Cattle Detection and Tracking in Occlusion Environments.

Ensuring precise calving time prediction necessitates the adoption of an automatic and precisely accurate cattle tracking system. Nowadays, cattle tracking can be challenging due to the complexity of their environment and the potential for missed or false detections. Most existing deep-learning tracking algorithms face challenges when dealing with track-ID switch cases caused by cattle occlusion. To address these concerns, the proposed research endeavors to create an automatic cattle detection and tracking system by leveraging the remarkable capabilities of Detectron2 while embedding tailored modifications to make it even more effective and efficient for a variety of applications. Additionally, the study conducts a comprehensive comparison of eight distinct deep-learning tracking algorithms, with the objective of identifying the most optimal algorithm for achieving precise and efficient individual cattle tracking. This research focuses on tackling occlusion conditions and track-ID increment cases for miss detection. Through a comparison of various tracking algorithms, we discovered that Detectron2, coupled with our customized tracking algorithm (CTA), achieves 99% in detecting and tracking individual cows for handling occlusion challenges. Our algorithm stands out by successfully overcoming the challenges of miss detection and occlusion problems, making it highly reliable even during extended periods in a crowded calving pen.

Enhancing Pedestrian Tracking in Autonomous Vehicles by Using Advanced Deep Learning Techniques

Effective collision risk reduction in autonomous vehicles relies on robust and straightforward pedestrian tracking. Challenges posed by occlusion and switching scenarios significantly impede the reliability of pedestrian tracking. In the current study, we strive to enhance the reliability and also the efficacy of pedestrian tracking in complex scenarios. Particularly, we introduce a new pedestrian tracking algorithm that leverages both the YOLOv8 (You Only Look Once) object detector technique and the StrongSORT algorithm, which is an advanced deep learning multi-object tracking (MOT) method. Our findings demonstrate that StrongSORT, an enhanced version of the DeepSORT MOT algorithm, substantially improves tracking accuracy through meticulous hyperparameter tuning. Overall, the experimental results reveal that the proposed algorithm is an effective and efficient method for pedestrian tracking, particularly in complex scenarios encountered in the MOT16 and MOT17 datasets. The combined use of Yolov8 and StrongSORT contributes to enhanced tracking results, emphasizing the synergistic relationship between detection and tracking modules.

Liquid-level response measurement using high-speed videogrammetry with robust multiple sphere tracking

Understand the physics of the liquid sloshing is crucial to prevent the liquid storage tank instability. This paper proposes a novel videogrammetric method for high-frequency and accurate measurement of the liquid-level response. By using the lightweight floating spheres as independent measurement points and considering the settlement and aggregation of spheres under complex liquid environments, an adaptive block tracking method combined with an arc segmentation strategy is proposed to track spherical targets continuously. Combined with the calibrated stereo camera and the correspondence across different views, the liquid surface can be reconstructed by triangulating and interpolating the multiple tracking targets at any time. The reliability and robustness of the proposed method are demonstrated using the measurements from the total station, laser range finder, and stereo cameras beside the tank in multiple validation tests. In addition, the proposed method has been successfully applied to a large-scale LNG model shaking table test.

Self-supervised context-aware correlation filter for robust landmark tracking in liver ultrasound sequences.

Respiratory motion-induced displacement of internal organs poses a significant challenge in image-guided radiation therapy, particularly affecting liver landmark tracking accuracy. Addressing this concern, we propose a self-supervised method for robust landmark tracking in long liver ultrasound sequences. Our approach leverages a Siamese-based context-aware correlation filter network, trained by using the consistency loss between forward tracking and back verification. By effectively utilizing both labeled and unlabeled liver ultrasound images, our model, Siam-CCF , mitigates the impact of speckle noise and artifacts on ultrasonic image tracking by a context-aware correlation filter. Additionally, a fusion strategy for template patch feature helps the tracker to obtain rich appearance information around the point-landmark. Siam-CCF achieves a mean tracking error of 0.79±0.83 mm at a frame rate of 118.6 fps, exhibiting a superior speed-accuracy trade-off on the public MICCAI 2015 Challenge on Liver Ultrasound Tracking (CLUST2015) 2D dataset. This performance won the 5th place on the CLUST2015 2D point-landmark tracking task. Extensive experiments validate the effectiveness of our proposed approach, establishing it as one of the top-performing techniques on the CLUST2015 online leaderboard at the time of this submission.

A Robust Track Estimation Method for Airborne SAR Based on Weak Navigation Information and Additional Envelope Errors

As miniaturization technology has progressed, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) can now be mounted on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to carry out observational tasks. Influenced by airflow, UAVs inevitably experience deviations or vibrations during flight. In the context of cost constraints, the precision of the measurement equipment onboard UAVs may be relatively low. Nonetheless, high-resolution imaging demands more accurate track information. It is therefore of great importance to estimate high-precision tracks in the presence of both motion and measurement errors. This paper presents a robust track estimation method for airborne SAR that makes use of both envelope and phase errors. Firstly, weak navigation information is employed for motion compensation, which reduces a significant portion of the motion error. Subsequently, the track is initially estimated using additional envelope errors introduced by the Extended Omega-K (EOK) algorithm. The track is then refined using a phase-based approach. Furthermore, this paper presents the calculation method of the compensated component for each target and provides an analysis of accuracy from both theoretical and simulation perspectives. The track estimation and imaging results in the simulations and real data experiments validate the effectiveness of the proposed method, with an estimation accuracy of real data experiments within 5 cm.

A Survey of Integrating Deep Learning-Based Missing Person Detection Model into CCTV Systems for Enhanced Identification

This study looks at the possibility of increasing identification abilities in closed-circuit video (CCTV) systems using a deep learning-based missing person detection model. Missing individuals are becoming increasingly common, necessitating the development of novel search tactics. This study uses deep learning to augment traditional CCTV systems by using an improved model that can reliably identify and track persons who go missing. Taking a detailed look at current techniques to missing person identification, the literature review shows the shortcomings of existing systems and the potential for improving them through the use of deep learning. The paper examines past methodologies, including facial recognition accuracy, tracking robustness, and system scalability.The integration of computer vision with missing person identification, object tracking technologies, and facial recognition algorithms are among the main topics. The research also investigates privacy, moral, and legal implications of deploying such technology in public.

A Reference Design Model to Manage Consent in Data Subjects-Centered Internet of Things Devices

Internet of Things (IoT) devices have changed how billions of people in the world connect and interact with each other. But, as more people use IoT devices, many questions arise about how these devices handle private data and whether they properly ask for permission when using it. Due to information privacy regulations such as the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which requires companies to seek permission from data subjects (DS) before using their data, it is crucial for IoT companies to obtain this permission correctly. However, this can be really challenging in the IoT world because people often find it difficult to interact with and manage multiple IoT devices under their control. Also, the rules about privacy are not always clear. As such, this paper proposes a new model to improve how consent is managed in the world of IoT. The model seeks to minimize “consent fatigue” (when people get tired of always being asked for permission) and give DS more control over how their data are shared. This includes having default permission settings, being able to compare similar devices, and, in the future, using AI to give personalized advice. The model allows users to easily review and change their IoT device permissions if previous conditions are not met. It also emphasizes the need for easily understandable privacy rules, clear communication with users, and robust tracking of consent for data usage. By using this model, companies that provide IoT services can do a better job of protecting user privacy and managing DS consent. In addition, companies can more easily comply with data protection laws and build stronger relationships with their customers.

Thermal Image Tracking for Search and Rescue Missions with a Drone

Infrared thermal imaging is useful for human body recognition for search and rescue (SAR) missions. This paper discusses thermal object tracking for SAR missions with a drone. The entire process consists of object detection and multiple-target tracking. The You-Only-Look-Once (YOLO) detection model is utilized to detect people in thermal videos. Multiple-target tracking is performed via track initialization, maintenance, and termination. Position measurements in two consecutive frames initialize the track. Tracks are maintained using a Kalman filter. A bounding box gating rule is proposed for the measurement-to-track association. This proposed rule is combined with the statistically nearest neighbor association rule to assign measurements to tracks. The track-to-track association selects the fittest track for a track and fuses them. In the experiments, three videos of three hikers simulating being lost in the mountains were captured using a thermal imaging camera on a drone. Capturing was assumed under difficult conditions; the objects are close or occluded, and the drone flies arbitrarily in horizontal and vertical directions. Robust tracking results were obtained in terms of average total track life and average track purity, whereas the average mean track life was shortened in harsh searching environments.

Robust switching adaptive tracking control for uncertain high-order fully actuated systems based on fully actuated system approaches

This paper investigates the switching adaptive tracking control problem for high-order fully actuated (HOFA) systems with time-varying uncertainty. A type of special differentiable functions, named as pulse-like functions, are introduced firstly. Based on the function and the HOFA system approaches, this paper designs a new robust switching adaptive tracking (RSAT) controller, which guarantees that the state vector and its derivatives of the HOFA system are globally bounded, and the system tracking error vector converges into a preseted neighborhood of equilibrium. Most importantly, the preseted neighborhood is completely unrelated to the system initial values and the uncertainty. Furthermore, different from traditional switching adaptive control (SAC) methods, of which the controllers are often discontinuous, the RSAT controller designed in this paper is continuous (even differentiable), which is a key improvement to enhance dramatically the practicability of SAC. Finally, three simulation examples including single-link robot illustrate the effectiveness and the practicability of our proposed control method.

Online Learning Samples and Adaptive Recovery for Robust RGB-T Tracking

With the increasing diversity of visual tracking tasks, object tracking in RGB and thermal (RGB-T) modalities has received widespread interest. Most of the existing RGB-T tracking methods mainly improve tracking performance by integrating hierarchically complementary information from RGB and thermal modalities, however, they are insufficient in handling tracking failures due to the lack of re-detection capability. To address these issues, we propose a new RGB-T tracking method with online learning samples and adaptive object recovery. First, the features of RGB and thermal modalities are concatenated for robust appearance modeling. Second, a multimodal fusion strategy is designed to stably integrate reliable information of modalities and propose to use similarity to measure tracking confidence. Finally, a detector with online learning of positive and negative samples and adaptive recovery is developed to correct unreliable tracking results. Numerical results on five recent large-scale benchmark datasets demonstrate that the proposed tracker achieves competitive performance compared to other state-of-the-art methods.

A Novel Hybrid Optimization-based Backstepping Fractional Order Sliding Mode Proportional-integral-derivative Controller for Nonlinear Biological System

Nowadays, the role of the control system in the bioengineering field plays a major part due to its significant improvement and demand. Usually, if there are any changes in the parameter of a biological system, then it tends to cause crucial diseases in humans. Previously, various control algorithms have been developed; however, the proper control process failed due to the high error rate, slow convergence, Computational Complexity, Tuning Complexity and inaccurate function. The proposed control strategy should ensure accurate tracking of the desired trajectory or reference signal, even in the presence of uncertainties and disturbances. The control system should be capable of adapting to changes in the system dynamics and maintaining stable operation. This complexity can lead to high computational requirements, making the controller computationally expensive and potentially unsuitable for real-time applications or systems with limited computing resources. To overcome these issues, in this work, the novel Hybrid Ant Lion Moth Flame Optimization (HALMFO) based Backstepping Fractional-Order Sliding mode Proportional-Integral-Derivative (BFO-SPID) controller is proposed for different nonlinear biological systems. The proposed method enhances the efficiency, improved performance, robustness, convergence speed, and solution quality of the optimization process. This paper addresses the challenge of controlling nonlinear biological systems by proposing a novel hybrid optimization-based backstepping approach combined with a fractional order sliding mode proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller. This work’s essential contribution lies in addressing existing control strategies’ limitations by integrating multiple control techniques to achieve robust tracking performance and disturbance rejection. This system proposes predictive control with state estimation based on the backstepping sliding mode method. The gain parameters of the developed controller are optimized using the HALMFO method. The proposed control approach performance has been tested under biological systems such as Protein, Pancreas, and Genetic Regulatory Network (GRN). The execution of this proposed model is done in MATLAB/Simulink. Furthermore, the performance of the proposed control technique is compared with various state-of-the-art methods in terms of accuracy, Mean Average Error (MAE), Mean Square Error (MSE), settling time, overshoot, and rise time. The comparison illustrates that the projected controller has reached a steady condition with the least error rate in the control application. Thus the developed controller regulates the parameter variations in the biological system as per the desired level, providing significant effective outcomes to complex problems.

Observer-Based Event-Triggered Iterative Learning Consensus for Locally Lipschitz Nonlinear MASs

This paper aims to realize the robust tracking for nonidentical locally Lipschitz nonlinear multiagent systems (MASs) with unmeasurable states, for which an observer-based distributed event-triggered iterative learning control (ILC) framework is proposed. With this framework, distributed state observers provide the indispensable state information for agents to learn to complete the task. An initial state learning strategy is implemented to relax consistent initial conditions, which can improve the learning accuracy. An event-triggering mechanism is designed to reduce the occupation of communication and computing resources during the iterative learning process of MASs. With locally Lipschitz nonlinearities and iteration-varying uncertainties caused by nonrepetitive initial states, the double-dynamics analysis (DDA) method is adopted to illustrate the convergence of the ILC process. By setting appropriate learning gains and constructing a quasi-globally Lipschitz condition via the DDA method, the robust convergence can be achieved for MASs in the presence of switching topologies. A numerical simulation is used to show the validity of the proposed framework.