REAL-TIME DISPLAY FOR MULTIPLE HYPOTHESIS CONTACT MANAGEMENT

THE GENERAL PROBLEM ADDRESSED IN CONTACT MANAGEMENT IS THE ESTIMATION OF THE STATES OF MULTIPLE TARGETS IN A MULTIPLE SENSOR ENVIRONMENT. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PROBLEM PLACE THE REQUIREMENTS THAT THE CONTACT MANAGEMENT ALGORITHM MUST BE ROBUST AND HIGHLY AUTOMATED, BUT STILL ALLOW THE OPERATOR CONTROL. A NEW GENERAL APPROACH TO THE CONTACT MANAGEMENT PROBLEM THAT IS CURRENTLY UNDER DEVELOPMENT IS MULTIPLE HYPOTHESIS CONTACT MANAGEMENT ALGORITHMS (MHCMA). MHCMA APPROACHES FOR CONTACT MANAGEMENT, SUCH AS ORCA DEVELOPED BY ORINCON, FORM A GLOBAL PARTITION OF THE DATA INTO TRACKS. EACH PARTITION IS AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW OF THE POSSIBLE TARGETS THAT ARE PRESENT. THE FUNDAMENTAL ISSUE THAT REMAINS TO BE ADDRESSED BEFORE MHCMA APPROACHES CAN HAVE WIDESPREAD APPLICATION IS THE ADDITION OF A SIMPLE OPERATOR INTERFACE THAT PROVIDES INTERACTION AND CONTROL. THE PRIMARY TECHNICAL OBJECTIVES IS TO DEVELOP A PROTOTYPE SYSTEM THAT PROVIDES THE FOLLOWING CAPABILITIES FOR AN MHCMA APPROACH: (1) SCENE PRESENTATION TO THE OPERATOR THAT IS TRACK ORIENTED AS OPPOSED TO CURRENT TECHNIQUES THAT PROVIDE A GLOBAL HYPOTHESIS; AND (3) AS A RESULT OF OPERATOR SELECTION, AUTOMATED HYPOTHESIS MODIFICATION AND RESCORING OF RESULTING HYPOTHESES.