Estimating Shape of Target Object Moving on Unknown Trajectory by Using Location-Unknown Distance Sensors: Theoretical Framework

TL;DR

This paper introduces a theoretical framework for estimating the shape of a moving target object using distance sensors with unknown locations, without relying on additional location or angle information.

Contribution

It presents a novel method that estimates the shape, speed, and edge sequence of a moving object solely from distance reports of unknown sensors.

Findings

Successfully estimates object shape without sensor location data.

Determines object speed and edge directions from distance measurements.

Reconstructs the shape of the target object in a theoretical setting.

Abstract

By using directional distance sensors that have unknown locations, this paper proposes a method of estimating the shape of a location-unknown target object $T$ moving with unknown speed on an unknown straight line trajectory. Regardless of many unknown factors, the proposed method can estimate the shape by using each sensor's continuous report of the measured distance to $T$ without using side information or additional mechanisms such as locations of anchor sensors and angle-of-arrival measurements. By using the sensor reports, the proposed method estimates (i) the moving speed of $T$, (ii) the length and direction of an edge of $T$, and (iii) the order of consecutive edges. As a result, we can obtain the shape of $T$.