Algorithms for Tracking with a Foveal Sensor

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Description
Foveal sensors employ a small region of high acuity (the foveal region) surrounded by a periphery of lesser acuity. Consequently, the output map that describes their sensory acuity is nonlinear, rendering the vast corpus of linear system theory inapplicable immediately

Foveal sensors employ a small region of high acuity (the foveal region) surrounded by a periphery of lesser acuity. Consequently, the output map that describes their sensory acuity is nonlinear, rendering the vast corpus of linear system theory inapplicable immediately to the state estimation of a target being tracked by such a sensor. This thesis treats the adaptation of the Kalman filter, an iterative optimal estimator for linear-Gaussian dynamical systems, to enable its application to the nonlinear problem of foveal sensing. Results of simulations conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of this algorithm in tracking a target are presented, culminating in successful tracking for motion in two dimensions.
Date Created
2015-05