OBJECT TRACKING THROUGH ADAPTIVE CORRELATION

Current Air Force interests include a desire to track an object based on its shape once it has been designated as a target. The use of a cor relation-based system to track an object through a series of images ba sed on templates derived from previous image frames is discussed. The ability to track is extended to sequences that include multiple object s of interest within the field of view. This is accomplished by compar ing the height and shape of the template autocorrelation to the peaks in the correlation of the template with the next scene. The result is to identity the region in the next scene that best matches the designa ted target. In addition to correlation plane postprocessing an adaptiv e window is used to determine the template size to reduce the effects of correlator walk-off. The image sequences used were taken from a for ward-looking infrared sensor mounted on board a DC-3 aircraft. The ima ges contain a T-55 tank and both an M-113 and a TAB-71 armored personn el carrier moving in a columnized formation along a dirt road. This re search presents techniques to (1) track targets in the presence of oth er, and sometimes brighter, targets of similar shape, (2) to maintain small tracking errors, and (3) to reduce the effects of correlator wal k-off.