Overview of Sensor Fusion Research at RDECOM NVESD & Recent Results on Vehicle Detection Using Multiple Sensor Nodes

• Main Authors: Perconti, Philip, Hilger, James, Loew, Murry
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Subjects: ALL WEATHER; COMPONENT REPORTS; DECISION MAKING; INFRARED CAMERAS; MULTISENSORS; NIGHT VISION; PASSIVE SYSTEMS; SENSOR FUSION; TARGET DETECTION; Target Direction, Range and Position Finding; TRADE OFF ANALYSIS; VEHICLE DETECTION

The US Army RDECOM CERDEC Night Vision & Electronic Sensors Directorate has a dynamic applied research program in sensor fusion for a wide variety of defense & defense related applications. This paper provides an overview of the on going research at NVESD related to fusing a mixture of active and passive sensors for countermine, dismounted & mounted soldiers, aviation and unattended ground sensor applications. Highlighted are new techniques in image registration and sensor fusion ion that enable the detection of moving vehicles with a network of image and acoustic sensors. A set of experiments was designed and conducted using a variety of vehicles and scenarios. The incremental value (in terms of error probability) added to the acoustic information by the image sensors (visible and infrared wavelength cameras) is assessed in combination with the fusion techniques themselves. The approach specifically accounts for the effects of location, speed, weather, and background (acoustic, visible, and infrared). Sensor fusion for detection and classification is preformed at both the sensor level and the feature level providing a basis for making tradeoffs between performance desired and resources required. Several classifier types are examined (parametric, nonparametric, learning). The combination of their decisions is used to make the final decision. Keywords: Tracking, fusion, sensor fusion, vehicle detection, detection, location. Presented at the Proceedings of the International Conference on International Fusion (6th) Volume 1: FUSION 2003, held in Cairns, Queensland, Australia on 8-11 July 2003. Pub. in the Proceedings of the International Conference on International Fusion (6th) Volume 1: FUSION 2003 p492-498, July 2003. This article is from ADA442007 Proceedings of the International Conference on International Fusion (6th). Held in Cairns, Queensland, Australia on 8-11 July 2003. Volume 1: FUSION 2003