Target Tracking Method Research Articles

A Two-Stage Target Search and Tracking Method for UAV Based on Deep Reinforcement Learning

To deal with the complexities of decision-making for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in denial environments, this paper applies deep reinforcement learning algorithms to search and rescue (SAR) tasks. It proposes a two-stage target search and tracking method for UAVs based on deep reinforcement learning, which divides SAR tasks into search and tracking stages, and the controllers for each stage are trained based on the proposed deep deterministic policy gradient with three critic networks (DDPG-3C) algorithm. Simulation experiments are carried out to evaluate the performance of each stage in a two-dimensional rectangular SAR scenario, including search, tracking, and the integrated whole stage. The experimental results show that the proposed DDPG-3C model can effectively alleviate the overestimation problem, and hence results in a faster convergence and improved performance during both the search and tracking stages. Additionally, the two-stage target search and tracking method outperforms the traditional single-stage approach, leading to a more efficient and effective decision-making ability in SAR tasks.

A Target Tracking Method Based on the Self-organizing Fuzzy Extended Kalman Filter for UAV

T his paper proposed a novel approach based on integrated tracking and positioning for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) systems. In the proposed scheme, a self-organizing fuzzy Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) system was studied to track the flight trajectory of an UAV. With this goal, the control model of the UAV system with the disturbances was established based on the dynamic equation firstly. Secondly, the self-organizing Fuzzy EKF system was designed to identify and estimate the errors of the UAV position adaptively. And then, the trajectory tracking control was determined for the UAV according to the obtained errors. Finally, the proposed strategy was applied to a UAV to demonstrate the effectiveness.

An Adaptive Spatial Target Tracking Method Based on Unscented Kalman Filter.

The spatial target motion model exhibits a high degree of nonlinearity. This leads to the fact that it is easy to diverge when the conventional Kalman filter is used to track the spatial target. The Unscented Kalman filter can be a good solution to this problem. This is because it conveys the statistical properties of the state vector by selecting sampling points to be mapped through the nonlinear model. In practice, however, the measurement noise is often time-varying or unknown. In this case, the filtering accuracy of the Unscented Kalman filter will be reduced. In order to reduce the influence of time-varying measurement noise on the spatial target tracking, while accurately representing the a posteriori mean and covariance of the spatial target state vector, this paper proposes an adaptive noise factor method based on the Unscented Kalman filter to adaptively adjust the covariance matrix of the measurement noise. In this paper, numerical simulations are performed using measurement models from a space-based infrared satellite and a ground-based radar. It is experimentally demonstrated that the adaptive noise factor method can adapt to time-varying measurement noise and thus improve the accuracy of spatial target tracking compared to the Unscented Kalman filter.

Radar-Based Target Tracking Using Deep Learning Approaches with Unscented Kalman Filter

Machine learning, a rapidly growing field, has attracted numerous researchers for its ability to automatically learn from and make predictions based on data. This manuscript presents an innovative approach to estimating the covariance matrix of noise in radar measurements for target tracking, resulting from collaborative efforts. Traditionally, researchers have assumed that the covariance matrix of noise in sonar measurements is present in the vast majority of literature related to target tracking. On the other hand, this research aims to estimate it by employing deep learning algorithms with noisy measurements in range, bearing, and elevation from radar sensors. This collaborative approach, involving multiple disciplines, provides a more precise and accurate covariance matrix estimate. Additionally, the unscented Kalman filter was combined with the gated recurrent unit, multilayer perceptron, convolutional neural network, and long short-term memory to accomplish the task of 3D target tracking in an airborne environment. The quantification of the results was achieved through the use of Monte Carlo simulations, which demonstrated that the convolutional neural network performed better than any other approach. The system was simulated using a Python program, and the proposed method offers higher accuracy and faster convergence time than conventional target tracking methods. This is a demonstration of the potential that collaboration can have in research.

Learning Unsupervised Cross-Domain Model for TIR Target Tracking

The limited availability of thermal infrared (TIR) training samples leads to suboptimal target representation by convolutional feature extraction networks, which adversely impacts the accuracy of TIR target tracking methods. To address this issue, we propose an unsupervised cross-domain model (UCDT) for TIR tracking. Our approach leverages labeled training samples from the RGB domain (source domain) to train a general feature extraction network. We then employ a cross-domain model to adapt this network for effective target feature extraction in the TIR domain (target domain). This cross-domain strategy addresses the challenge of limited TIR training samples effectively. Additionally, we utilize an unsupervised learning technique to generate pseudo-labels for unlabeled training samples in the source domain, which helps overcome the limitations imposed by the scarcity of annotated training data. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our UCDT tracking method outperforms existing tracking approaches on the PTB-TIR and LSOTB-TIR benchmarks.

Towards Autonomous Operation of UAVs Using Data-Driven Target Tracking and Dynamic, Distributed Path Planning Methods

A hybrid real-time path planning method has been developed that employs data-driven target UAV trajectory tracking methods. It aims to autonomously manage the distributed operation of multiple UAVs in dynamically changing environments. The target tracking methods include a Gaussian mixture model, a long short-term memory network, and extended Kalman filters with pre-specified motion models. Real-time vehicle-to-vehicle communication is assumed through a cloud-based system, enabling virtual, dynamic local networks to facilitate the high demand of vehicles in airspace. The method generates optimal paths by adaptively employing the dynamic A* algorithm and the artificial potential field method, with minimum snap trajectory smoothing to enhance path trackability during real flights. For validation, software-in-the-loop testing is performed in a dynamic environment composed of multiple quadrotors. The results demonstrate the framework’s ability to generate real-time, collision-free flight paths at low computational costs.

A single-frequency Doppler radar target tracking method based on the IPSO algorithm

A single-frequency Doppler radar target tracking method based on the IPSO algorithm

Maneuvering extended target tracking method based on transformer network

This research introduces a new approach to address the challenges related to inaccuracies in shape estimation and motion state tracking during the tracking of maneuvering extended targets. The method combines a novel neural network model with a cubature Kalman filter. Initially, the target’s shape variation is represented using a second-order autoregressive model, and Bayesian filtering is employed for target contour estimation in static environments. Subsequently, the kinematic state tracking of maneuvering targets is enhanced by modifying a neural network model based on Transformer architecture. Through the effective integration of these techniques, precise tracking of maneuvering extended targets is achieved, facilitating accurate estimation of irregular contour information while tracking the targets’ motion state in real-time. The efficacy of the proposed approach is further confirmed through various simulation scenarios, underscoring its suitability for tracking maneuvering extended targets.

An improved cubature Kalman filter state prediction method based on the design of active denial tracking system.

In this paper, an improved CKF (Cubature Kalman Filter) target tracking method is adopted to solve the tracking and pointing problem in the field of the Active Denial System. The math model of the system is built and the precision requirement is analyzed. The improved CKF method is input as the feedforward compensation for system control to improve the system tracking performance. In the process of the iterative CKF algorithm, nonlinear means are used. The method makes full use of measurement information and estimates the target velocity acceleration model parameters through the neural network, which is used as the input of the CKF to modify the process parameters of CKF and improve the state estimation accuracy. At the same time, the limited lower bound method is used to ensure that the gain reaches the lower bound bottom line of the precision demand, so that it does not tend to zero with time, so as to avoid affecting its rapid response ability during maneuvering and so that the prediction error is also controlled within the range of the precision demand. The simulation and experimental results show the superiority of the method and make the system fully meet the design requirements.

An Improvement Method of Target Tracking Based on Broad Learning System With Scale and Drift Correction

An Improvement Method of Target Tracking Based on Broad Learning System With Scale and Drift Correction

A Diffusion Neural Network-Enhanced Object Tracking Approach Under Sports Scenarios

Object tracking for motion scenes is a common research concern in field of computer vision. Its goal is to accurately track targets in different time periods and predict their future states by utilizing the motion information in video sequences. However, traditional target-tracking methods in motion scenes often face challenges such as target blur, occlusion, and changes in lighting. To deal with this issue, this paper proposes a diffusion neural network-enhanced object-tracking approach under sports scenarios. In order to further improve tracking performance, the diffusion convolution operation is introduced, which propagates features at different time steps to enhance the modeling ability of target motion. Then, suitable influencing factors are selected based on motion scene object feature parameters. Finally, a target tracking method is established by integrating these two methods. In the experiment, we used a large number of real motion scene datasets to evaluate the proposed method. The experimental results show that by comparing with traditional moving object tracking methods, the proposal achieves significant improvement in tracking accuracy and methodology robustness. In addition, we also conducted stability experiments, proving that this method has good stability for models with varying kernel numbers.

Dynamic Programming-Based Track-before-Detect Algorithm for Weak Maneuvering Targets in Range–Doppler Plane

This paper focuses on detecting and tracking maneuvering weak targets in the range–Doppler (RD) plane with the track-before-detect (TBD) algorithm based on dynamic programming (DP). Traditional DP-TBD algorithms integrate target detection and tracking in their framework while searching the paths provided by a predefined model of the kinematic properties within the constraints allowed. However, both the approximate motion model used in the RD plane and the model mismatch caused when the target undergoes a maneuver can degrade the TBD performance sharply. To address these issues, this paper accurately describes the evolution of the RD equation based on Constant Acceleration (CA) and Coordinated Turn (CT) motion models with the process noise in the Cartesian coordinate system, and it also employs a recursive method to estimate the parameters in the equations for efficient energy accumulation and path searches. Facing the situation that targets energy accumulation during the DP iteration process will lead to an expansion of the target energy accumulation process. This paper designs a more efficient Optimization Function (OF) to inhibit the expansion effect, improve the resolution of the nearby targets, and increase the detection probability of the weak targets simultaneously. In addition, to search the trajectory more efficiently and accurately, we improved the process of DP multi-frame accumulation, thus reducing the computation amount of large-scale searches. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method for CA and CT motion target detection and tracking is verified by many of the simulation experiments that were conducted in this paper.

Visual Sensor Target Tracking and Localization Method for Automatic Excavators

Visual Sensor Target Tracking and Localization Method for Automatic Excavators

Manoeuvre Target Tracking in Wireless Sensor Networks Using Convolutional Bi-Directional Long Short-Term Memory Neural Networks and Extended Kalman Filtering.

Aiming at the problem that traditional wireless sensor networks produce errors in the positioning and tracking of motorised targets due to noise interference, this paper proposes a motorised target tracking method with a convolutional bi-directional long and short-term memory neural network and extended Kalman filtering, which is trained by using the simulated RSSI value and the actual target value of motorised targets collected from the convolutional bi-directional neural network to the sensor anchor node, so as to obtain a more accurate initial value of the manoeuvre target, and at the same time, the extended Kalman filtering method is used to accurately locate and track the real-time target, so as to obtain the accurate positioning and tracking information of the real-time target. Through experimental simulation, it can be seen that the algorithm proposed in this paper has good tracking effect in both linear manoeuvre target tracking scenarios and non-linear manoeuvre target tracking scenarios.

A Dynamic Visual SLAM System Incorporating Object Tracking for UAVs

The capability of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to capture and utilize dynamic object information assumes critical significance for decision making and scene understanding. This paper presents a method for UAV relative positioning and target tracking based on a visual simultaneousocalization and mapping (SLAM) framework. By integrating an object detection neural network into the SLAM framework, this method can detect moving objects and effectively reconstruct the 3D map of the environment from image sequences. For multiple object tracking tasks, we combine the region matching of semantic detection boxes and the point matching of the optical flow method to perform dynamic object association. This joint association strategy can prevent trackingoss due to the small proportion of the object in the whole image sequence. To address the problem ofacking scale information in the visual SLAM system, we recover the altitude data based on a RANSAC-based plane estimation approach. The proposed method is tested on both the self-created UAV dataset and the KITTI dataset to evaluate its performance. The results demonstrate the robustness and effectiveness of the solution in facilitating UAV flights.

UAV Complex-Scene Single-Target Tracking Based on Improved Re-Detection Staple Algorithm

With the advancement of remote sensing technology, the demand for the accurate monitoring and tracking of various targets utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is increasing. However, challenges such as object deformation, motion blur, and object occlusion during the tracking process could significantly affect tracking performance and ultimately lead to tracking drift. To address this issue, this paper introduces a high-precision target-tracking method with anomaly tracking status detection and recovery. An adaptive feature fusion strategy is proposed to improve the adaptability of the traditional sum of template and pixel-wise learners (Staple) algorithm to changes in target appearance and environmental conditions. Additionally, the Moth Flame Optimization (MFO) algorithm, known for its strong global search capability, is introduced as a re-detection algorithm in case of tracking failure. Furthermore, a trajectory-guided Gaussian initialization technique and an iteration speed update strategy are proposed based on sexual pheromone density to enhance the tracking performance of the introduced re-detection algorithm. Comparative experiments conducted on UAV123 and UAVDT datasets demonstrate the excellent stability and robustness of the proposed algorithm.

Real-time and Intelligent Moving Targets Tracking based on UAV Remote Sensing Video Camera and Brain-like Computing Chips

Abstract. Moving target tracking technology based on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) is widely used in many fields such as automatic inspection and emergency response. The existing moving target tracking methods usually have the problems of large computation and low tracking efficiency. Limited by the computing power of the UAV platform, real-time tracking and analysis of multiple targets based on the video data collected by UAV platform is a difficult task. In this paper, we proposed a novel Target Specific Filtering Tracking with Memory (TSFMTrack) method designed for UAV-based real-time tracking tasks, which involves a Tracklet Filtering Module (TFM) for capturing object appearance features and a Tracklet Matching Module (TMM) for bounding box association in each frame. By experimental comparison with other State-Of-The-Art (SOTA) methods on popular MOT and UAV tracking datasets, the TSFMTrack have shown obvious advantages in accuracy, computational efficiency and reliability. Furthermore, we deployed the TSFMTrack on the brain-inspired chip Lynchip KA200, the experimental results have shown that the TSFMTrack is effective on edge computational platform and suitable for UAV real-time tracking tasks.

CBCT-DRRs superior to CT-DRRs for target-tracking applications for pancreatic SBRT

Objective. In current radiograph-based intra-fraction markerless target-tracking, digitally reconstructed radiographs (DRRs) from planning CTs (CT-DRRs) are often used to train deep learning models that extract information from the intra-fraction radiographs acquired during treatment. Traditional DRR algorithms were designed for patient alignment (i.e. bone matching) and may not replicate the radiographic image quality of intra-fraction radiographs at treatment. Hypothetically, generating DRRs from pre-treatment Cone-Beam CTs (CBCT-DRRs) with DRR algorithms incorporating physical modelling of on-board-imagers (OBIs) could improve the similarity between intra-fraction radiographs and DRRs by eliminating inter-fraction variation and reducing image-quality mismatches between radiographs and DRRs. In this study, we test the two hypotheses that intra-fraction radiographs are more similar to CBCT-DRRs than CT-DRRs, and that intra-fraction radiographs are more similar to DRRs from algorithms incorporating physical models of OBI components than DRRs from algorithms omitting these models. Approach. DRRs were generated from CBCT and CT image sets collected from 20 patients undergoing pancreas stereotactic body radiotherapy. CBCT-DRRs and CT-DRRs were generated replicating the treatment position of patients and the OBI geometry during intra-fraction radiograph acquisition. To investigate whether the modelling of physical OBI components influenced radiograph-DRR similarity, four DRR algorithms were applied for the generation of CBCT-DRRs and CT-DRRs, incorporating and omitting different combinations of OBI component models. The four DRR algorithms were: a traditional DRR algorithm, a DRR algorithm with source-spectrum modelling, a DRR algorithm with source-spectrum and detector modelling, and a DRR algorithm with source-spectrum, detector and patient material modelling. Similarity between radiographs and matched DRRs was quantified using Pearson’s correlation and Czekanowski’s index, calculated on a per-image basis. Distributions of correlations and indexes were compared to test each of the hypotheses. Distribution differences were determined to be statistically significant when Wilcoxon’s signed rank test and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov two sample test returned p ≤ 0.05 for both tests. Main results. Intra-fraction radiographs were more similar to CBCT-DRRs than CT-DRRs for both metrics across all algorithms, with all p ≤ 0.007. Source-spectrum modelling improved radiograph-DRR similarity for both metrics, with all p < 10−6. OBI detector modelling and patient material modelling did not influence radiograph-DRR similarity for either metric. Significance. Generating DRRs from pre-treatment CBCT-DRRs is feasible, and incorporating CBCT-DRRs into markerless target-tracking methods may promote improved target-tracking accuracies. Incorporating source-spectrum modelling into a treatment planning system’s DRR algorithms may reinforce the safe treatment of cancer patients by aiding in patient alignment.

A Method to Track Moving Targets Using a Doppler Radar Based on Converted State Kalman Filtering

Strong nonlinearity between Doppler measurement and target motion in Doppler radar target tracking leads to the inadequate utilization of measurement information and limited tracking accuracy. We solved this problem by combining converted state Kalman filtering and the Interacting Multiple Model. This maneuvering target tracking method is suitable for Doppler measurement. First, we converted the target motion in the Cartesian coordinate to the polar coordinate. Then, we expanded the measurement equation to include Doppler measurement, making target motion linearly related to the Doppler radar observation vectors and allowing efficient utilization of measurement information. Next, we used unscented transformation to calculate the statistical characteristics of the process noise in the polar coordinate. This process helps to reduce the noise error caused by the coordinate system transformation in the original converted state Kalman filter. Finally, the system effectively tracks targets that may perform maneuvers with unknown motion during actual tracking. Using the converted state Kalman filter with Doppler measurement as a sub-filter, an Interacting Multiple Model tracking method can be constructed to adjust the model probabilities without going through nonlinear transformation. Simulation results show that the technique can achieve effective target tracking in Doppler measurement application scenarios and has higher tracking accuracy in non-maneuvering and maneuvering scenarios.

Object tracking method based on edge detection and morphology

With the continuous development of science and technology, intelligent surveillance technology using image processing and computer vision is also progressing. To improve the performance of target detection and tracking, an improved target tracking method is proposed, which uses a combination of the Canny operator and morphology for the detection part, and a Kalman filter extended Kernel Correlation Filter (KCF) tracking algorithm approach for the tracking part. First, a convolution kernel of 3×3\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$3\ imes 3$$\\end{document} is improved to a convolution kernel of 2×2\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$2\ imes 2$$\\end{document} in the traditional Canny algorithm, and the pixel gradient in the diagonal direction is increased. Secondly, a mathematical morphology theory of nonlinear filtering is applied to the Canny edge detection algorithm, and this method effectively improves the clarity of image edges. Finally, the extended kernel correlation filtering algorithm is applied to video surveillance and Online Object Tracking Benckmark2013 (OTB2013) datasets for testing. The experimental results show that the method proposed in this paper can accurately detect moving targets and the algorithm has good accuracy and success rate.