Mobile Target Tracking Using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle with a Non-Gimbaled Video Sensor
Liang Quan Sun, Daniel J. Pack · 2015
In this paper, we present a novel path planning strategy for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a non-gimbaled video sensor to track a ground mobile target. A 3-dimensional UAV dynamic model is used in the proposed optimization strategy to incorporate the coupled relationship between the camera line-of-sight and UAV motion. Two mathematical formulations are proposed to derive the objective function used in a Model Predictive Control (MPC) technique. We also develop a dynamic window based technique to take agile target motion into account when determining the receding horizon time period used in the MPC. In addition, the in uence of di erent sensor placements and time horizons toward generating desired UAV trajectories are studied. Simulation results are presented to show the e ectiveness of the proposed approach in tracking a target moving with di erent trajectory patterns.