Collaborative Target Tracking in Elliptic Coordinates: a Binocular Coordination Approach

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel binocular coordination control method for collaborative target tracking using elliptic coordinates, enabling formation control with only distance measurements and proven exponential convergence.

Contribution

It proposes a new control approach based on elliptic coordinates and binocular principles, improving formation tracking without singularities and with simplified control design.

Findings

Proven exponential convergence for stationary targets.

Effective tracking with small target drift velocities.

Simulation results demonstrating tracking performance.

Abstract

This paper concentrates on the collaborative target tracking control of a pair of tracking vehicles with formation constraints. The proposed controller requires only distance measurements between tracking vehicles and the target. Its novelty lies in two aspects: 1) the elliptic coordinates are used to represent an arbitrary tracking formation without singularity, which can be deduced from inter-agent distances, and 2) the regulation of the tracking vehicle system obeys a binocular coordination principle, which simplifies the design of the control law by leveraging rich physical meanings of elliptic coordinates. The tracking system with the proposed controller is proven to be exponentially convergent when the target is stationary. When the target drifts with a small velocity, the desired tracking formation is achieved within a small margin proportional to the magnitude of the target's drift velocity. Simulation examples are provided to demonstrate the tracking performance of the proposed controller.