Target Tracking with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: From Single to Swarm Vehicle Autonomy and Intelligence

Recent military and civil actions worldwide have highlighted the potential utility for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Both fixed wind and rotary aircraft have contributed significantly to the success of several military and surveillance operations. Future combat operations will continue to place unmanned aircraft in challenging conditions such as the urban warfare environment, where surveillance is particularly challenging. These challenges as well as the reduced autonomy, and operator workload requirements of current unmanned vehicles present a roadblock to their success. It is anticipated that future operations will require multiple UAVs performing in a cooperative mode, sharing resources and complementing other air or ground assets to accurately calculate a target´s position. This paper reviews the current status of UAV target tracking technologies with emphasis on recent developments aimed at UAV improved autonomy and discusses future directions and technological challenges that must be addressed in the immediate future