A Nonlinear Tracker Using Attitude Measurements

The subject of this paper involves tracking the present position of a maneuvering aircraft as well as predicting its future position. A tracking filter is developed that uses aircraft attitude angles (yaw, pitch, roll) in addition to the usual radar measurements. Computer simulation of tracker performance when tracking violently maneuvering aircraft indicates that a dramatic improvement is obtained by using attitude information. The approach taken is to develop a 12-or 15-state extended Kalman filter that models both translational and rotational degrees of freedom. By measuring and estimating attitude it is possible to approximately determine the magnitude and direction of the force system acting on the vehicle and therefore determine vehicle linear acceleration. Knowledge of acceleration is then used to improve the estimate of present and future position of the vehicle being tracked. Simulation of a T-38 aircraft performing a 5 g turn indicates that the new tracker produces maximum trajectory prediction errors that are 36 percent of the errors experienced by more conventional trackers.     

Steady state analysis for discrete tracking filters

An analysis of a discrete constant-gain α-β-γ tracking filter is presented. Steady-state tracking filter gains are determined without solving a discrete matrix Ricatti equation. Explicit closed-form gain solutions are found as a function of the roots to a cubic equation. Gain variations as a function of process noise, measurement noise, and sampling time are investigated     

A nonlinear helicopter tracker using attitude measurements

Extended-Kalman-filter-based trackers are discussed for maneuvering helicopters that use body angle and rotor tip-path-plane angle measurements in addition to the usual radar position measurements. Improvements were found in tracker performance when the body rotation and rotor tip-path-plane degrees of freedom were modeled within the extended Kalman filter. Tracker performance was further improved when measurements of body angles and rotor tip-path-plane angles were made available to the tracker