Sensor Management for Static Target Detection with Non-Binary Sensor Observations and Observation Uncertainty

Previously, a grid-based sensor management framework has been developed that is useful for directing the operation of a suite of sensors seeking to detect static targets. Earlier versions of the framework only allow the sensors to make binary observations¿either "target present" or "no target present"¿within the cells of the grid. This paper introduces the use of non-binary observations within the sensor management framework. Simulation results are presented which show that the presented sensor manager continues to outperform a direct search technique with the use of non-binary observations. The effects of uncertain sensor observations are also examined in this paper, and uncertainty modeling is introduced in order to allow the sensor manager to model uncertain non-binary sensor observations. Simulation results show that proper uncertainty modeling is crucial for maintaining robust sensor manager performance.