ESMF based multiple UAVs active cooperative observation method in relative velocity coordinates

Based on extended set-membership filter (ESMF) and the path planning method in relative velocity coordinates (RVCs), a new 3D multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) systems active cooperative observation method, high precision cooperative observing a moving target by proper planning the behavior of each member vehicle, is proposed. The new method combines the ESMF based cooperative observation method and the LP-based trajectory generation method in RVCs, where the ESMF based cooperative method is used to obtain the moving target´s motion state which is further used as part of the cost function to plan the UAV´s behavior by using the planning method in RVCs. The contribution of this paper is: (1) the computational burden of the proposed cooperative algorithm is comparable to single ESMF algorithm; (2) the high precision observation of moving target is always obtainable by considering the optimal observation condition during trajectory planning; (3) the planning algorithm in RVCs, where the trajectory planning can be modeled as a LP problem, is used to optimize the UAV´s behavior, thus, in company with (Gu, et al; 2006), the fast application of the new proposed active cooperative observation method is desirable. Finally, the simulations in 3D environments are conducted to verify the feasibility and validity of the method.