Unmanned aerial systems (UASs) have recently enabled novel applications such as passenger transport and package delivery, but are increasingly vulnerable to cyberattack and therefore difficult to certify. Legacy systems such as GPS provide these capabilities extremely well, but are sensitive to spoofing and hijacking. An alternative intelligent transport system (ITS) was developed that provides highly secure communications, positioning, and timing synchronization services to networks of cooperative RF users, termed Communications and High-Precision Positioning (CHP2) system. This technology was implemented on consumer-off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and it offers rapid (<100 ms) and precise (<5 cm) positioning capabilities in over-the-air experiments using flexible ground stations and UAS platforms using limited bandwidth (10 MHz). In this study, CHP2 is considered in the context of safety-critical and resource limited transport applications and urban air mobility. The two-way ranging (TWR) protocol over a joint positioning-communications waveform enables distributed coherence and time-of-flight(ToF) estimation. In a multi-antenna setup, the cross-platform ranging on participating nodes in the network translate to precise target location and orientation. In the current form, CHP2 necessitates a cooperative timing exchange at regular intervals. Dynamic resource management supports higher user densities by constantly renegotiating spectral access depending on need and opportunity. With these novel contributions to the field of integrated positioning and communications, CHP2 is a suitable candidate to provide both communications, navigation, and surveillance (CNS) and alternative positioning, navigation, and timing (APNT) services for high density safety-critical transport applications on a variety of vehicular platforms.

The problem of multiple object tracking seeks to jointly estimate the time-varying cardinality and trajectory of each object. There are numerous challenges that are encountered in tracking multiple objects including a time-varying number of measurements, under varying constraints, and environmental conditions. In this thesis, the proposed statistical methods integrate the use of physical-based models with Bayesian nonparametric methods to address the main challenges in a tracking problem. In particular, Bayesian nonparametric methods are exploited to efficiently and robustly infer object identity and learn time-dependent cardinality; together with Bayesian inference methods, they are also used to associate measurements to objects and estimate the trajectory of objects. These methods differ from the current methods to the core as the existing methods are mainly based on random finite set theory.

The first contribution proposes dependent nonparametric models such as the dependent Dirichlet process and the dependent Pitman-Yor process to capture the inherent time-dependency in the problem at hand. These processes are used as priors for object state distributions to learn dependent information between previous and current time steps. Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling methods exploit the learned information to sample from posterior distributions and update the estimated object parameters.

The second contribution proposes a novel, robust, and fast nonparametric approach based on a diffusion process over infinite random trees to infer information on object cardinality and trajectory. This method follows the hierarchy induced by objects entering and leaving a scene and the time-dependency between unknown object parameters. Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling methods integrate the prior distributions over the infinite random trees with time-dependent diffusion processes to update object states.

The third contribution develops the use of hierarchical models to form a prior for statistically dependent measurements in a single object tracking setup. Dependency among the sensor measurements provides extra information which is incorporated to achieve the optimal tracking performance. The hierarchical Dirichlet process as a prior provides the required flexibility to do inference. Bayesian tracker is integrated with the hierarchical Dirichlet process prior to accurately estimate the object trajectory.

The fourth contribution proposes an approach to model both the multiple dependent objects and multiple dependent measurements. This approach integrates the dependent Dirichlet process modeling over the dependent object with the hierarchical Dirichlet process modeling of the measurements to fully capture the dependency among both object and measurements. Bayesian nonparametric models can successfully associate each measurement to the corresponding object and exploit dependency among them to more accurately infer the trajectory of objects. Markov chain Monte Carlo methods amalgamate the dependent Dirichlet process with the hierarchical Dirichlet process to infer the object identity and object cardinality.

Simulations are exploited to demonstrate the improvement in multiple object tracking performance when compared to approaches that are developed based on random finite set theory.

This thesis is a proposition for an addition to an engineering project that involves creating a heads up display for a scuba diving mask which displays important safety information. The premise of this thesis includes three different features: distress, distance, and direction. The distress feature is to alert a diver that their “buddy diver” is having an emergency and is requiring attention. Distance and direction are intended to be included on the heads up display, informing the diver of the relative location of their “buddy diver” in case they have lost sight of them. A set of requirements was created to find the most practical solutions. From these requirements and extensive research, three potential methods of underwater communication were found; electromagnetic waves in the radio frequency range, optical waves, and acoustic waves. Of these three methods, acoustic waves were found to be most feasible for the scope of this project. Using modems and transducers, an acoustic signal is able to be sent from one diver to another in order to detect relative location as well as send a message of distress. Ultimately, two possible concepts were designed, with one deemed as most advantageous. This concept engages the use of four transponders that have the ability to transmit and receive high frequencies, minimizes blind spots, and is small enough to not cause discomfort or be obstructive to the divers experience. Due to the nature of this application, the team is able to propose a path of development for a compact communication system between scuba divers.

This thesis is a proposition for an addition to an engineering project that involves creating a heads up display for a scuba diving mask which displays important safety information. The premise of this thesis includes three different features: distress, distance, and direction. The distress feature is to alert a diver that their “buddy diver” is having an emergency and is requiring attention. Distance and direction are intended to be included on the heads up display, informing the diver of the relative location of their “buddy diver” in case they have lost sight of them. A set of requirements was created to find the most practical solutions. From these requirements and extensive research, three potential methods of underwater communication were found; electromagnetic waves in the radio frequency range, optical waves, and acoustic waves. Of these three methods, acoustic waves were found to be most feasible for the scope of this project. Using modems and transducers, an acoustic signal is able to be sent from one diver to another in order to detect relative location as well as send a message of distress. Ultimately, two possible concepts were designed, with one deemed as most advantageous. This concept engages the use of four transponders that have the ability to transmit and receive high frequencies, minimizes blind spots, and is small enough to not cause discomfort or be obstructive to the divers experience. Due to the nature of this application, the team is able to propose a path of development for a compact communication system between scuba divers.