Hierarchical Network-Based Tracklets Data Association for Multiple Extended Target Tracking with Intermittent Measurements

The key issue of multiple extended target tracking is to differentiate the origins of the measurements. The association of measurements with the possible origins within the target’s extent is difficult, especially for occlusions or detection blind zones, which cause intermittent measurements. To solve this problem, a hierarchical network-based tracklet data association algorithm (ET-HT) is proposed. At the low association level, a min-cost network flow model based on the divided measurement sets is built to extract the possible tracklets. At the high association level, these tracklets are further associated with the final trajectories. The association is formulated as an integral programming problem for finding the maximum a posterior probability in the network flow model based on the tracklets. Moreover, the state of the extended target is calculated using the in-coordinate interval Kalman smoother. Simulation and experimental results show the superiority of the proposed ET-HT algorithm over JPDA- and RFS-based methods when measurements are intermittently unavailable.