Implementation of an angle-only tracking filter

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
This paper presents an implementation of a tracking filter for use with angle-only measurement data--such as for use with IR sensor data--with principle application in an air-to- air multiple target tracking environment. The implementation is based upon the modified spherical coordinate (MSC) method. Among the implementation issues discussed are the following: (a) Choice of process noise model. The choice of process noise model must balance the competing needs of filter derivative state convergence versus the prevention of excessive lags during heavy target maneuvers. A maneuver detection scheme is implemented to achieve this balance. The maneuver detection scheme utilizes a test on measurement residuals as well as a batch processor verification of the recursive Kalman filter states. (b) Choice of ownship maneuver for target ranging. The strength and duration of ownship maneuvers impacts the rate and level of range convergence. The orientation of the maneuver relative to target position impacts range observability. In a gross sense, the maneuver should attempt to maximize the projection of the difference between the ownship position following the maneuver and its projected position had it not maneuvered onto the cross-line-of-sight to the target. (c) The effect of sampling rate, measurement accuracy, and target maneuver upon filter performance. Of primary consideration is the impact of these factors on range estimation accuracy. Expected performance is illustrated through the use of Monte Carlo simulation results.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: