New multiple target tracking strategy using domain knowledge and optimisation

This paper proposes an environment-dependent vehicle dynamic modelling approach considering interactions between the noisy control input of a dynamic model and the environment in order to make best use of domain knowledge. Based on this modelling, a new domain knowledge-aided moving horizon estimation (DMHE) method is proposed for ground moving target tracking. The proposed method incorporates different types of domain knowledge in the estimation process considering both environmental physical constraints and interaction behaviours between targets and the environment. Furthermore, in order to deal with a data association ambiguity problem of multiple target tracking in a cluttered environment, the DMHE is combined with a multiple hypothesis tracking structure. Numerical simulation results show that the proposed DMHE-based method and its extension could achieve better performance than traditional tracking methods which utilise no domain knowledge or simple physical constraint information only.