Target tracking methods, electronic devices, target tracking systems, and storage media

Abstract

This application relates to the field of radar technology and discloses a target tracking method, electronic device, target tracking system, and storage medium. The method includes: receiving target status information; predicting the position of the target in the current period based on the target status information to obtain predicted position coordinates; converting the predicted position coordinates into first coordinates in a first radar coordinate system; determining a first azimuth angle of the target relative to a first radar based on the first coordinates; identifying a radar whose detection field of view includes the area where the first azimuth angle is located as the target radar; in response to the target radar being a second radar in the radar system, converting the predicted position coordinates into second coordinates in a second radar coordinate system; determining a second azimuth angle and a second elevation angle of the target relative to the second radar based on the second coordinates; controlling the second radar to emit a tracking beam pointing towards the second azimuth angle at the second elevation angle; and updating a first track set and a second track set. This application can continuously track the same target and avoid resource waste.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of radar technology, specifically to a target tracking method, electronic device, target tracking system, and storage medium. Background Technology

[0002] Radar is a key detection device in modern military and civilian fields. In target detection, radar detects and locates targets by emitting beams in a specific direction. Since the beam coverage of a single radar is difficult to achieve 360°, multiple radars can be used in tandem to achieve 360° all-around airspace detection. How to utilize multiple radars collaboratively to detect targets, continuously track the same target, and avoid resource waste is a problem that needs to be solved. Summary of the Invention

[0003] In view of the above problems, embodiments of this application provide a target tracking method, electronic device, target tracking system and storage medium to solve the problems in the prior art that it is impossible to use multiple radars to continuously track the same target and that there is a waste of resources.

[0004] According to one aspect of the embodiments of this application, a target tracking method is provided, applied to an electronic device, the electronic device being communicatively connected to a radar system including multiple radars, each radar having a different detection field of view, the radar system being mounted on a mobile platform, the method comprising: receiving target state information of a target detected by a first radar in the radar system in the previous cycle; predicting the position of the target in the current cycle based on the target state information, obtaining the predicted position coordinates of the target in the current cycle in the coordinate system of the mobile platform; converting the predicted position coordinates into first coordinates in the first radar coordinate system; and determining the target relative to the first radar coordinate system based on the first coordinates. The first azimuth angle of the first radar; the radar whose detection field of view includes the area where the first azimuth angle is located is identified as the target radar corresponding to the target in the current period; in response to the target radar being the second radar in the radar system, the predicted position coordinates are converted into second coordinates in the second radar coordinate system; based on the second coordinates, the second azimuth angle and the second elevation angle of the target relative to the second radar are determined; the second radar is controlled to transmit a tracking beam pointing to the second azimuth angle at the second elevation angle; the first track set corresponding to the first radar and the second track set corresponding to the second radar are updated so that the target track record of the target is transferred from the first track set to the second track set.

[0005] In one optional approach, the target track record includes the position coordinates of the target in the mobile platform coordinate system over a historical period, where the historical period is the period during which the first radar detects the target. Before updating the first track set corresponding to the first radar and the second track set corresponding to the second radar, the method further includes: receiving the first track record sent by the first radar and the second track record sent by the second radar, wherein the first track record is the position coordinates of the target detected by the first radar in the mobile platform coordinate system, and the second track record is the position coordinates of the target detected by the second radar in the mobile platform coordinate system; determining the first track set based on the first track record; determining the second track set based on the second track record; updating the first track set corresponding to the first radar and the second track set corresponding to the second radar includes: deleting the target track record from the first track set; and adding the target track record to the second track set.

[0006] In one optional approach, determining the first track set based on the first track record includes: sorting the first track records according to the receiving order to obtain the first track set; determining the second track set based on the second track record includes: sorting the second track records according to the receiving order to obtain the second track set. In an alternative embodiment, before controlling the second radar to transmit a tracking beam pointing to the second azimuth angle at the second elevation angle, the method further includes: setting the target tracking priority to the highest level; controlling the second radar to transmit a tracking beam pointing to the second azimuth angle at the second elevation angle includes: prioritizing the second radar to transmit a tracking beam pointing to the second azimuth angle at the second elevation angle within the current period according to the tracking priority.

[0007] In one alternative approach, determining the first azimuth angle of the target relative to the first radar based on the first coordinates further includes: determining the first azimuth angle and the first elevation angle of the target relative to the first radar based on the first coordinates; the method further includes: in response to the target radar still being the first radar, controlling the first radar to emit a tracking beam pointing towards the first azimuth angle at the first elevation angle to maintain tracking of the target.

[0008] In one optional approach, determining the radar whose detection field of view includes the area where the first azimuth angle is located as the target radar corresponding to the target in the current period includes: determining the target detection azimuth angle interval to which the first azimuth angle belongs from multiple detection azimuth angle intervals, wherein the multiple detection field of view ranges of the multiple radars correspond one-to-one with the multiple detection azimuth angle intervals; and determining the radar corresponding to the target detection azimuth angle interval as the target radar.

[0009] According to another aspect of the embodiments of this application, an electronic device is provided, including a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory, wherein the processor executes the computer program to implement the target tracking method as described above.

[0010] According to another aspect of the embodiments of this application, a target tracking system is provided, including a radar system, an inertial navigation device, and an electronic device as described above. The radar system includes multiple radars, each with a different detection field of view. The radar system and the inertial navigation device are mounted on a mobile platform, and both the radar system and the inertial navigation device are communicatively connected to the electronic device. The multiple radars are used to send the target status information to the electronic device. The inertial navigation device is used to collect the attitude information of the mobile platform and send the attitude information to the electronic device. The electronic device is also used to receive the attitude information and transmit the attitude information to the radars.

[0011] In one alternative approach, the target tracking system further includes a host computer that is communicatively connected to the electronic device; the host computer is used to display the updated first track set and the second track set.

[0012] According to another aspect of the embodiments of this application, a computer-readable storage medium is provided having a computer program stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implements the target tracking method as described above.

[0013] In this embodiment, the position of the target in the current cycle is predicted based on the target state information of the target detected by the first radar in the previous cycle, and the target radar to be currently tracked is matched accordingly. When it is determined that the target radar is no longer the first radar but another radar (the second radar), the predicted position coordinates are converted into coordinates in the coordinate system of the second radar, and the second radar is controlled to emit a tracking beam based on the converted coordinates, thereby achieving seamless collaborative tracking of the same target by multiple radars. This method not only effectively overcomes the target loss problem caused by the limited field of view of radar detection, but also ensures that a single target is tracked by only one radar in the same cycle, avoiding the waste of beam resources and the generation of redundant tracks in the overlapping area of ​​the field of view. At the same time, by updating the track set, the track records of the same target are transferred to different track sets when the tracking radar switches, and are uniformly assigned to the track set corresponding to the current tracking radar, thereby ensuring the continuity and integrity of the target track at the global level.

[0014] The above description is merely an overview of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application. In order to better understand the technical means of the embodiments of this application and to implement them in accordance with the contents of the specification, and to make the above and other objects, features and advantages of the embodiments of this application more obvious and understandable, specific implementation methods of this application are described below. Attached Figure Description

[0015] The accompanying drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of this application. Furthermore, the same reference numerals denote the same parts throughout the drawings. In the drawings: Figure 1 The illustration shows an application scenario provided by an embodiment of this application; Figure 2 This illustration shows an application scenario diagram provided by another embodiment of this application; Figure 3 A block diagram illustrating an application scenario provided in an embodiment of this application is shown; Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the structure of the electronic device provided in an embodiment of this application is shown; Figure 5 A flowchart illustrating the target tracking method provided in an embodiment of this application is shown; Figure 6 A schematic diagram of the target tracking system provided in an embodiment of this application is shown. Detailed Implementation

[0016] Exemplary embodiments of the present application will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although exemplary embodiments of the present application are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present application may be implemented in various forms and should not be limited to the embodiments set forth herein.

[0017] Currently, radar can be used to detect targets such as drones, pedestrians, and vehicles. Taking drones as an example, due to the rapid development of drone technology, their use has become very common. However, drones also bring a series of security risks, such as privacy violations and conflicts over flight zones. To ensure the security of the protected area, radar can be used to detect drones, and then drone countermeasures can be used to counter drones that pose a security threat, thereby ensuring the security of the protected area.

[0018] While deploying radar at fixed sites allows for continuous and routine monitoring of specific areas, its detection field of view is easily obstructed by surrounding buildings, terrain undulations, or trees, creating blind spots. Furthermore, this static deployment mode easily exposes the radar's location, making it difficult to effectively detect evasive drone targets. Therefore, to build a more flexible and robust low-altitude defense system, radar can be deployed on mobile platforms such as vehicles, ships, or aircraft. This not only allows for rapid relocation and deployment to fill blind spots in fixed monitoring based on security needs, but also enables precise strikes against intruding drones in conjunction with vehicle-mounted countermeasures equipment, thereby enhancing dynamic response and comprehensive prevention and control capabilities against sudden security threats. The following description uses vehicles as a mobile platform and radar mounted on a vehicle to detect drones as an example, but this does not constitute a limitation of this application.

[0019] A radar's detection range is related to its azimuth coverage. Taking a single radar with an azimuth coverage of 90° as an example, at least four radars need to be deployed on the vehicle to achieve 360° all-around detection. Figure 1 A schematic diagram illustrating an application scenario provided by an embodiment of this application is shown. For example... Figure 1 As shown, four radars are deployed on the mobile platform 10 (i.e., the vehicle): radar 1, radar 2, radar 3, and radar 4. The detection field of view of radar 1 is area AOB, radar 2 is area BOC, radar 3 is area COD, and radar 4 is area DOA.

[0020] As mentioned earlier, during target detection, radar detects and locates targets by emitting beams in specific azimuths. Since the beamwidth of a single radar transmission is limited, the radar must sequentially emit beams pointing to different azimuth angles to scan the detection area. Taking the first radar 1 as an example, it achieves a comprehensive scan of the area AOB by sequentially emitting beams pointing to different azimuth angles, thus completing the detection of the UAV. For instance, at the first moment, the first radar 1 emits a beam pointing to azimuth angle A; in subsequent moments, it successively deflects the beam direction according to a preset angular step size, continuously stepping until it scans to azimuth angle B. After completing this unidirectional scan, the beam returns to azimuth angle A and the above process is repeated, thereby achieving periodic scanning of the area AOB to continuously monitor whether there are UAV targets within the area AOB.

[0021] Assuming the vehicle's direction of travel remains constant, if radar 1 detects the UAV in area AOB during period t1, and the UAV is moving, it will move from area AOB to position E in area BOC during period t2. However, during period t2, due to the periodic scanning of the beam, the beam of radar 2 happens to scan the azimuth angle F. Because the radars operate on a periodic scanning basis, and radar 2 does not have any track information about the UAV during period t2, the aforementioned situation may occur when the UAV crosses the coverage area of ​​both radars. This could lead to an inability to establish the UAV's flight path based on its track information in a timely manner, or even result in the interruption or loss of tracking of the UAV.

[0022] To improve the efficiency of UAV monitoring, five or more radars can be set up for coordinated detection. Each radar has a different detection field of view, and there is an overlap between the detection fields of view of two radars. Figure 2 A schematic diagram illustrating an application scenario provided by another embodiment of this application is shown. For example... Figure 2 As shown, in Figure 1 Based on this, a fifth radar 5 is also deployed on the mobile platform 10, with a detection field of view covering region GOH. Assuming the vehicle's direction of travel remains unchanged, if the first radar 1 detects the UAV in region AOB during period t1, and since the UAV is in motion, during period t2, when it moves from region AOB to position E in region BOC, simultaneously controlling the second radar 2 and the fifth radar 5 to emit beams pointing towards azimuth angle E to track the UAV would result in a waste of detection resources, and redundant tracks would exist in the UAV's flight path generated based on the detection information from each radar.

[0023] To address the aforementioned problems, this application proposes a target tracking method. After a radar (the first radar) in the previous cycle detects a target, the method acquires the target's state information detected in the previous cycle and predicts the target's position in the current cycle based on this information, obtaining its predicted position coordinates in the mobile platform coordinate system (i.e., a coordinate system established with a point on the mobile platform as its origin). Then, these predicted position coordinates are converted to coordinates in the first radar coordinate system (i.e., a coordinate system established with a point on the first radar as its origin) to determine the target's azimuth angle relative to the first radar. Radars whose detection field of view covers the area where this azimuth angle is located are identified as the target radars. The target radar is no longer the first radar but another radar (the second radar), indicating that the target has moved out of the detection field of view of the first radar and entered the detection field of view of the second radar. Therefore, the predicted position coordinates are converted into coordinates in the second radar coordinate system (i.e., a coordinate system established with a certain point of the second radar as the origin), and the azimuth and elevation angles of the target relative to the second radar are determined accordingly. Then, the second radar is controlled to emit a tracking beam pointing to the azimuth angle at the elevation angle and update the track set so that the target track record is transferred from the first track set corresponding to the first radar to the second track set corresponding to the second radar, thereby ensuring continuous and accurate tracking of the moving target and avoiding resource waste.

[0024] The target tracking method proposed in this application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0025] Figure 3 A block diagram illustrating an application scenario provided in an embodiment of this application is shown. For example... Figure 3 As shown, the electronic device 200, used to execute the target tracking method provided in this application, is remotely connected to the radar system 301 and also remotely connected to the host computer 400. The electronic device 200 can be a server, computer, touchscreen phone, smartphone, tablet computer, portable electronic device, or other electronic device. The inertial navigation device 302 and multiple radars in the radar system 301 are respectively fixed to the mobile platform 10. The radars in the radar system 301 detect targets by emitting beams, and each radar has a different detection field of view. The inertial navigation device 302 collects the attitude information of the mobile platform 10 and transmits it to the radars in the radar system 301 through the electronic device 200, so that the radars can establish a mobile platform coordinate system based on the attitude information, and thus determine the coordinates of the target in the mobile platform coordinate system. The host computer 400 can be an electronic device with a human-computer interaction interface, such as a computer, smartphone, or tablet computer, and the user can provide the electronic device 200 with the installation location information of the radars in the radar system 301 on the mobile platform 10 through the host computer 400.

[0026] Figure 4The diagram illustrates the structure of an electronic device provided in an embodiment of this application. The specific embodiments of this application do not limit the specific implementation of the electronic device. Figure 4 As shown, the electronic device 200 may include a processor 202 and a memory 204.

[0027] The memory 204 stores the computer program 206. The memory 204 may include high-speed RAM or non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk storage device. The computer program 206 may include computer-executable instructions. The processor 202 executes the computer program 206 to implement embodiments of the target tracking method provided in this application. The processor 202 may be a central processing unit (CPU), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits configured to implement embodiments of this application. The electronic device 200 includes one or more processors, which may be of the same type, such as one or more CPUs; or they may be of different types, such as one or more CPUs and one or more ASICs.

[0028] Figure 5 A flowchart illustrating the target tracking method provided in an embodiment of this application is shown. Figure 5 As shown, the target tracking method provided in this application embodiment includes the following steps 110 to 190.

[0029] Step 110: Receive the target status information of the target detected by the first radar in the previous cycle, transmitted by the first radar in the radar system 301.

[0030] It should be noted that the previous cycle is relative to the current cycle. In each cycle, after each radar detects a target, it promptly transmits the target status information TsitTRs(x, y, z, vx, vy, vz, ax, ay, az) to the electronic equipment 200. Here, x, y, and z are the target's x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis position coordinates in the moving platform coordinate system; vx, vy, and vz are the target's velocities relative to the moving platform's x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis; and ax, ay, and az are the target's accelerations relative to the moving platform's x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis.

[0031] Specifically, such as Figure 3As shown, after the inertial navigation device 302 collects the real-time attitude information VehiclePos(Roll, Pitch, Yaw) of the mobile platform 10, it sends the attitude information to the electronic device 200, which then sends the attitude information to each radar in the radar system 301. Roll, Pitch, and Yaw represent the roll angle, pitch angle, and yaw angle of the mobile platform 10, respectively.

[0032] In the previous cycle, after the first radar detected the target, it obtained the first position coordinates in the first radar coordinate system established with a certain point of the radar as the origin. Since there are multiple radars in the radar system 301, and each radar corresponds to an independent radar coordinate system, in order to obtain the target position in a unified coordinate system to generate a track, after determining the first position coordinates of the target in its own coordinate system, the radar establishes a mobile platform coordinate system based on the attitude information it has received, converts the first position coordinates into position coordinates (x, y, z) in the mobile platform coordinate system, and sends them to the electronic device 200.

[0033] It is worth noting that within the same period, there may be a situation where one radar detects multiple targets or multiple radars detect multiple targets. When there are multiple targets, steps 120 to 190 below can be performed for each target separately. For ease of explanation, in this embodiment, only a target detected by the first radar in the previous period is used as an example for illustration.

[0034] Step 120: Predict the position of the current period target based on the target status information, and obtain the predicted position coordinates of the current period target in the mobile platform coordinate system.

[0035] Since the target's position coordinates in the target state information are in the mobile platform coordinate system, the predicted position coordinates obtained in this step based on the target state information are also in the mobile platform coordinate system. Specifically, in this step, the target state information can be input into an existing position prediction model (such as Kalman filtering and its extended models, trajectory prediction models based on machine learning / deep learning, etc.) to obtain the predicted position coordinates output by the model; or the target's flight state (such as speed, acceleration, heading, etc.) can be analyzed through the target state information, and its position in the current cycle can be calculated based on kinematic principles (such as uniform linear motion, uniformly accelerated motion models), thereby obtaining the predicted position coordinates.

[0036] Step 130: Convert the predicted position coordinates into the first coordinates in the first radar coordinate system.

[0037] like Figure 3As shown, after the user fixes the radar in the radar system 301 to the mobile platform 10, the installation position information of each radar relative to the mobile platform 10 can be determined, and then the installation position information can be transmitted to the electronic device 200 executing the embodiment of this application through the host computer 400.

[0038] In this step, the electronic device 200 converts the predicted position coordinates into first coordinates in the first radar coordinate system based on the installation position information Radars (Rollr, Pitchr, Yawr, xr, yr, zr) of the first radar sent by the host computer 400 and the attitude information VehiclePos (Roll, Pitch, Yaw) of the mobile platform 10 sent by the inertial navigation device 302. Here, Rollr, Pitchr, Yawr, xr, yr, and zr represent the installation roll angle, pitch angle, yaw angle, and spatial length, width, and height relative to the center position of the mobile platform 10 of the first radar, respectively.

[0039] Step 140: Based on the first coordinates, determine the first azimuth angle of the target relative to the first radar.

[0040] Specifically, the first coordinates in the first radar coordinate system are converted to coordinates in the spherical coordinate system to obtain the first spherical coordinates, where the first spherical coordinates include the first elevation angle and the first azimuth angle.

[0041] Step 150: The radar whose detection field of view includes the area where the first azimuth angle is located is identified as the target radar corresponding to the target in the current cycle.

[0042] Different radars in radar system 301 have different detection fields of view, and each detection field of view corresponds to a detection azimuth interval. That is, multiple detection fields of view of multiple radars correspond one-to-one with multiple detection azimuth intervals. Specifically, step 150 can be implemented through the following steps a1 to a2.

[0043] Step a1: Determine the target detection azimuth interval to which the first azimuth belongs from multiple detection azimuth intervals.

[0044] For example, radar system 301 includes four radars: a first radar, a second radar, a third radar, and a fourth radar. The detection azimuth angle range for the first radar is 0° to 90°, for the second radar it is 90° to 180°, for the third radar it is 180° to 270°, and for the fourth radar it is 270° to 360°. If the first azimuth angle is 30°, then the target detection azimuth angle range is the same as the range for the first radar, which is 0° to 90°.

[0045] It is worth noting that, in cases where the detection fields of two radars overlap, if the first azimuth angle falls within the azimuth angle interval corresponding to the overlapping area (for example, such as...), Figure 2 As shown, if the first azimuth angle points to position E), then the electronic device 200 determines a unique target detection azimuth angle interval based on the preset overlapping area.

[0046] Specifically, the azimuth angle intervals corresponding to the overlapping areas can be divided into different sub-intervals. Different sub-intervals correspond to different detection azimuth angle intervals. After determining the sub-interval to which the first azimuth angle belongs, based on the correspondence between the sub-intervals and the detection azimuth angle intervals, the detection azimuth angle interval corresponding to that sub-interval is determined as the target detection azimuth angle interval. Figure 2 For example, the azimuth interval of region GOH is divided into a first sub-interval of region GOB and a second sub-interval of region BOH. The first sub-interval corresponds to the detection azimuth interval of the first radar 1 (i.e., the interval of region AOB), and the second sub-interval corresponds to the detection azimuth interval of the second radar 2 (i.e., the interval of region BOC). When the first azimuth angle enters region GOH, the electronic device 200 determines whether it is located in the first or second sub-interval. If the first azimuth angle belongs to the first sub-interval, the detection azimuth interval of the first radar 1 corresponding to the first sub-interval is determined as the target detection azimuth interval; if the first azimuth angle belongs to the second sub-interval, the detection azimuth interval of the second radar 2 corresponding to the second sub-interval is determined as the target detection azimuth interval. Alternatively, the beam deflection angles of the target relative to the two radars in the overlapping area are compared, and the azimuth interval corresponding to the radar with the smaller deflection angle (i.e., the lower cost of beam pointing adjustment) is selected as the target detection azimuth interval.

[0047] Step a2: Identify the radars corresponding to the target detection azimuth angle range as the target radars.

[0048] Since multiple detection azimuth intervals correspond one-to-one with multiple detection field of view ranges, and multiple detection field of view ranges correspond one-to-one with multiple radars, after determining the target detection azimuth interval in step a1, the target radar corresponding to the target detection azimuth interval can be determined.

[0049] Step 160: In response to the target radar being the second radar in the radar system, convert the predicted position coordinates into second coordinates in the second radar coordinate system.

[0050] If the target is still within the detection field of view of the first radar, then the target radar is still the first radar; if the target is not within the detection field of view of the first radar, then the target radar is another radar besides the first radar (referred to as the second radar in this article). The second radar coordinate system is a coordinate system established with a certain point (e.g., the center point) of the second radar as the origin. If the target radar is not the first radar, it means that the target has moved out of the detection field of view of the first radar and entered the detection field of view of another radar (the second radar). Therefore, in this step, the predicted position coordinates are converted into second coordinates in the second radar coordinate system so that the second radar can be controlled to track the target based on the second coordinates. The specific implementation method of this step can be referred to step 130, which will not be repeated here. It is worth noting that when the target is the first radar, steps 160 to 190 are not executed; steps 160 to 190 are executed only when the target radar is no longer the first radar.

[0051] Step 170: Based on the second coordinates, determine the second azimuth angle and the second elevation angle of the target relative to the second radar.

[0052] This step is similar to step 140, so the specific implementation method of this step can be referred to step 140, and will not be repeated here.

[0053] Step 180: Control the second radar to transmit a tracking beam pointing to the second azimuth angle at the second elevation angle.

[0054] Specifically, the electronic device 200 sends beam control commands containing a second azimuth angle and a second elevation angle to the second radar, enabling the second radar to precisely adjust its beam direction and emit a tracking beam pointing towards the second azimuth angle at the second elevation angle. Since the direction of this tracking beam is calculated in advance based on the predicted position of the current cycle, rather than passively waiting for the second radar to perform a regular periodic scan, it effectively avoids tracking loss or detection blind spots caused by the target moving across the radar's detection field of view and asynchronous scanning cycles of different radars, achieving seamless and continuous stable tracking of the target.

[0055] Step 190: Update the first track set corresponding to the first radar and the second track set corresponding to the second radar, so that the target track record is transferred from the first track set to the second track set.

[0056] In this embodiment of the application, preferably, steps b1 to b3 are performed before performing this step.

[0057] Step b1: Receive the first track record sent by the first radar and the second track record sent by the second radar.

[0058] The first track record records the position coordinates of the target detected by the first radar in the mobile platform's coordinate system, while the second track record records the position coordinates of the target detected by the second radar in the same coordinate system. It should be noted that the target detected by the first radar and the target detected by the second radar may be the same target or they may be different targets.

[0059] As described in step 110 above, in each cycle, after each radar detects a target, it promptly sends the target status information TsitTRs(x, y, z, vx, vy, vz, ax, ay, az) to the electronic equipment 200. The track record includes the target's position coordinates (x, y, z) in the mobile platform coordinate system.

[0060] Step b2: Determine the first track set based on the first track record.

[0061] Specifically, the first track records are sorted according to the receiving order to obtain the first track set. For example, if the first radar detects the first target sequentially in consecutive periods t1, t2, and t3, and reports the corresponding first track records P1(x1, y1, z1), P2(x2, y2, z2), and P3(x3, y3, z3), the electronic equipment 200 receives these first track records and sorts and splices them into a sequence [P1, P2, P3] according to the order in which they were received. This sequence constitutes the first track set, which intuitively depicts the actual movement trajectory of the first target within the detection field of view of the first radar from period t1 to t3. In this step, by arranging the discrete position coordinates reported by the same radar in each period in an orderly manner according to the time sequence, a continuous track segment reflecting the target's movement trend within the detection field of view can be constructed.

[0062] It should be noted that if the first track records of multiple targets detected by the first radar are received in step b1, then in step b2, a first track set is determined for each target's first track record. For example, if the first radar detects the first target sequentially within consecutive periods t1, t2, t3, and the second target sequentially within consecutive periods t2 and t3, and reports the first track records P1(x1, y1, z1), P2(x2, y2, z2), and P3(x3, y3, z3) corresponding to the first target, and the first track records P4(x4, y4, z4) and P5(x5, y5, z5) corresponding to the second target, after receiving these first track records, the electronic device 200 sorts and splices the first track records of the first target according to the different targets and the order in which the track records were received into [P1, P2, P3] to obtain the first first track set, and sorts and splices the first track records of the second target according to the order in which they were received into [P4, P5] to obtain the second first track set. Thus, the two first track sets corresponding to the first radar are obtained.

[0063] Step b3: Determine the second track set based on the second track record.

[0064] This step is similar to step b2, so the principle and specific implementation method of this step can be referred to step b2, and will not be repeated here.

[0065] As described in step 110 above, for ease of explanation, this embodiment of the application only uses a target detected by the first radar in the previous cycle as an example. For ease of distinction, in this embodiment of the application, the track record of the target corresponding to the target status information received in step 110 is referred to as the target track record.

[0066] For the target corresponding to the target status information received in step 110, as can be seen from steps b1 to b2 above, the target track record includes the target's position coordinates in the mobile platform coordinate system over a historical period. This historical period is the period during which the first radar detects the target, and the first track set includes the target track record. Based on this, in step 190, when updating the first and second track sets, the target track record is deleted from the first track set and added to the second track set. This transfers the target track record from the first track set to the second track set, thereby avoiding track breaks or misidentification as two different targets when the target crosses different radar detection fields, thus preventing redundant tracks and ensuring the continuity and integrity of the target's track.

[0067] In this embodiment, the position of the target in the current cycle is predicted based on the target state information of the target detected by the first radar in the previous cycle, and the target radar to be currently tracked is matched accordingly. When it is determined that the target radar is no longer the first radar but another radar (the second radar), the predicted position coordinates are converted into coordinates in the coordinate system of the second radar, and the second radar is controlled to emit a tracking beam based on the converted coordinates, thereby achieving seamless collaborative tracking of the same target by multiple radars. This method not only effectively overcomes the target loss problem caused by the limited field of view of the radar, but also ensures that a single target is tracked by only one radar in the same cycle, avoiding the waste of beam resources and the generation of redundant tracks in the overlapping area of ​​the field of view. At the same time, by updating the track set, the target track record of the same target is transferred from the first track set corresponding to the first radar to the second track set corresponding to the second radar, so that the track record of the same target is also transferred to different track sets when the tracking radar is switched, and uniformly belongs to the track set corresponding to the current tracking radar. This makes it easier for the second radar to generate the complete track of the target based on its corresponding second track set, ensuring the continuity and integrity of the target track at the global level.

[0068] In summary, through the methods described above, the embodiments of this application achieve direct transmission and smooth transition of target information between radars, solving the problem of track interruption when the target crosses the boundary area of ​​the detection field of view of multiple radars, and ensuring continuous and stable tracking of the target's entire track. Furthermore, by adopting a unified tracking beam scheduling strategy, repeated tracking of the same target by multiple radars is avoided, eliminating beam resource waste and tracking computation redundancy. Moreover, through the above methods, the embodiments of this application also support rapid target establishment and rapid handover, shortening the transition time and meeting the real-time tracking requirements in highly dynamic scenarios.

[0069] It is understandable that within the same cycle, the same radar may need to track multiple targets. To better track targets, in some embodiments, the electronic device 200 sets a tracking priority for each target, and then schedules the radar to transmit tracking beams sequentially according to the tracking priority of each target. For example, if the first radar detected the first target and the second target simultaneously in the previous cycle, and the second radar detected the third target in the previous cycle, after prediction and matching in steps 120-150, it is determined that the target radar currently corresponding to the first target and the third target is the second radar, while the target radar currently corresponding to the second target is still the first radar. Since the second radar needs to transmit tracking beams for the first target and the third target separately within the same cycle, and the first target is subject to cross-radar handover tracking, to ensure that its track does not have any breaks, the tracking priority of the first target is set to the highest level; while the second target and the third target are both kept within the original radar detection field of view and are not subject to cross-area tracking, the risk of tracking loss is relatively low, so the tracking priority of the second target and the third target is set to the secondary level. Based on this, for the first and third targets, electronic equipment 200 prioritizes scheduling the second radar to transmit a tracking beam towards the first target, and then schedules the second radar to transmit a tracking beam towards the third target. Through this method, in resource-constrained multi-target scenarios, the continuity and stability of cross-radar track handover can be guaranteed to the greatest extent possible.

[0070] In other embodiments, a threat level can be set for the target, and based on a pre-established mapping relationship between threat levels and tracking priorities, the radar can be scheduled to emit tracking beams towards the target sequentially according to the tracking priority corresponding to the target's threat level. For example, if the target's threat level is higher, its corresponding tracking priority will also be higher. In this way, the beam scheduling strategy can be dynamically adapted to the actual risk of the target.

[0071] exist Figure 5 Based on the provided embodiments, in other embodiments, the target tracking method further includes: in response to the target radar still being the first radar, controlling the first radar to emit a tracking beam pointing to the first azimuth angle at a first elevation angle to maintain tracking of the target. Specifically, the electronic device 200 sends a beam control command containing the first azimuth angle and the first elevation angle to the first radar, enabling the first radar to skip the conventional traversal scanning process in the current cycle and emit a tracking beam pointing to the first azimuth angle to continue tracking the target. Simultaneously, keeping the first track set corresponding to the first radar determined at a historical moment unchanged, the electronic device 200 directly appends the latest position coordinates actually detected and fed back by the first radar based on the tracking beam in the current cycle to the end of the first track set, thereby achieving a smooth extension of the target track within the detection field of view of the first radar.

[0072] Figure 6A schematic diagram of a target tracking system provided in an embodiment of this application is shown. Figure 6 As shown, the target tracking system 300 includes a radar system 301, an inertial navigation device 302, and an electronic device 200, with both the radar system 301 and the inertial navigation device 302 communicatively connected to the electronic device 200. The inertial navigation device 302 and the radar system 301 are mounted on a mobile platform, and the radar system 301 includes multiple radars, each with a different detection field of view. The inertial navigation device 401 collects the attitude information of the mobile platform and transmits this information to the electronic device 200. The electronic device 200 receives this attitude information and transmits it to each radar in the radar system 301, enabling the radars to establish a mobile platform coordinate system based on the attitude information. This allows the target position coordinates detected by the radars in their own coordinate systems to be uniformly transformed to coordinates in the mobile platform coordinate system.

[0073] It is worth noting that the radar system 301 may include three or more radars, each acting as a radar node, forming a networked detection system with multiple radar nodes. For different network topologies, it may include a regular array with evenly distributed nodes, or a heterogeneous network built based on distributed multi-sensor fusion. The target tracking method provided in this application generates a seamless handover beam scheduling scheme between radar nodes through centralized collaborative computing. This scheme ensures precise alignment of beam pointing with the mission area during multi-radar relay detection, eliminating detection blind spots and guaranteeing the continuity and stability of target tracking.

[0074] To display the target's trajectory, in some embodiments, the target tracking system 300 further includes a host computer 400. The electronic device 200 sends updated first and second trajectory sets to the host computer 400, which then displays the updated sets. To improve the display effect, the host computer 400 can also map the received trajectory sets onto a pre-built spatial situational interface around the mobile platform, presenting the target's complete flight path across the radar detection field of view in a visually intuitive and real-time manner as continuous trajectory lines or dynamic track points. This allows monitoring personnel to intuitively grasp the target's movement trend and historical trajectory.

[0075] This application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the above-described target tracking method embodiment.

[0076] This application provides a computer program that can be executed by a processor to implement the target tracking method described above.

[0077] This application provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the above-described target tracking method embodiment.

[0078] In the several embodiments provided in this application, any function, if implemented as a software functional module / unit and sold or used as an independent product, can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, all or part of the technical solution of this application can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or other electronic device) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing computer program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0079] The algorithms or displays provided herein are not inherently related to any particular computer, virtual system, or other device. Various general-purpose systems can also be used in conjunction with the teachings herein. The required structure for constructing such systems is apparent from the above description. Furthermore, the embodiments of this application are not directed to any particular programming language. It should be understood that the content of this application described herein can be implemented using various programming languages, and the above description of specific languages ​​is for the purpose of disclosing the best mode of implementation of this application.

[0080] It should be noted that the above embodiments are illustrative of this application and not restrictive, and those skilled in the art can devise alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses should not be construed as limiting the claims. The word "comprising" does not exclude the presence of elements or steps not listed in the claims. The word "a" or "an" preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. This application can be implemented by means of hardware comprising several different elements and by means of a suitably programmed computer. In claims enumerating several means, several units or modules of these means may be embodied by the same item of hardware. The use of the words first, second, and third, etc., does not indicate any order. These words can be interpreted as names. The steps in the above embodiments, unless otherwise specified, should not be construed as limiting the order of execution.

[0081] The embodiments described above are merely illustrative of several implementation methods of this application, and while the descriptions are specific and detailed, they should not be construed as limiting the scope of this patent application. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make various modifications and improvements without departing from the concept of this application, and these all fall within the protection scope of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of this application should be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A target tracking method applied to an electronic device, the electronic device being communicatively connected to a radar system comprising multiple radars, each radar having a different detection field of view, the radar system being mounted on a mobile platform, characterized in that... The method includes: Receive the target status information of the target detected by the first radar in the previous cycle, transmitted by the first radar in the radar system. Based on the target state information, the position of the target in the current period is predicted, and the predicted position coordinates of the target in the current period in the mobile platform coordinate system are obtained. The predicted position coordinates are converted into first coordinates in the first radar coordinate system; Based on the first coordinates, the first azimuth angle of the target relative to the first radar is determined; The radar whose detection field of view includes the area where the first azimuth angle is located is identified as the target radar corresponding to the target in the current cycle; In response to the target radar being the second radar in the radar system, the predicted position coordinates are converted into second coordinates in the second radar coordinate system; Based on the second coordinates, the second azimuth angle and the second elevation angle of the target relative to the second radar are determined; Control the second radar to transmit a tracking beam pointing to the second azimuth angle at the second elevation angle; Update the first track set corresponding to the first radar and the second track set corresponding to the second radar, so that the target track record of the target is transferred from the first track set to the second track set.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The target trajectory record includes the position coordinates of the target in the mobile platform coordinate system over a historical period, where the historical period is the period during which the first radar detects the target; Before updating the first track set corresponding to the first radar and the second track set corresponding to the second radar, the method further includes: Receive a first track record sent by the first radar and a second track record sent by the second radar, wherein the first track record is the position coordinates of the target detected by the first radar in the coordinate system of the mobile platform, and the second track record is the position coordinates of the target detected by the second radar in the coordinate system of the mobile platform; Based on the first track record, the first track set is determined; Based on the second track record, the second track set is determined; The updating of the first track set corresponding to the first radar and the second track set corresponding to the second radar includes: Delete the target track record from the first track set; Add the target track record to the second track set.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The step of determining the first track set based on the first track record includes: The first track records are sorted according to the receiving order to obtain the first track set; The determination of the second track set based on the second track record includes: The second track records are sorted according to the order of receipt to obtain the second track set.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Before controlling the second radar to transmit a tracking beam pointing to the second azimuth angle at the second elevation angle, the method further includes: Set the tracking priority of the target to the highest level; The control of the second radar to transmit a tracking beam at the second elevation angle and towards the second azimuth angle includes: According to the tracking priority, the second radar is preferentially scheduled to transmit a tracking beam pointing to the second azimuth angle at the second elevation angle during the current period.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Determining the first azimuth angle of the target relative to the first radar based on the first coordinates further includes: Based on the first coordinates, the first azimuth angle and the first elevation angle of the target relative to the first radar are determined; The method further includes: In response that the target radar is still the first radar, the first radar is controlled to emit a tracking beam pointing to the first azimuth angle at the first elevation angle to maintain tracking of the target.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The step of identifying the radar whose detection field of view includes the area where the first azimuth angle is located as the target radar corresponding to the target in the current period includes: The target detection azimuth angle interval to which the first azimuth angle belongs is determined from multiple detection azimuth angle intervals, wherein the multiple detection field of view ranges of the multiple radars correspond one-to-one with the multiple detection azimuth angle intervals; The radar corresponding to the target detection azimuth angle range is identified as the target radar.

7. An electronic device comprising a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory, characterized in that, The processor executes the computer program to implement the target tracking method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. A target tracking system, characterized in that, The device includes a radar system, an inertial navigation device, and an electronic device as described in claim 7. The radar system includes multiple radars, each of which has a different detection field of view. The radar system and the inertial navigation device are mounted on a mobile platform, and both the radar system and the inertial navigation device are communicatively connected to the electronic device. Multiple radars are used to transmit the target status information to the electronic device; The inertial navigation device is used to collect the attitude information of the mobile platform and send the attitude information to the electronic device; The electronic device is also used to receive the attitude information and transmit the attitude information to the radar.

9. The system according to claim 8, characterized in that, The target tracking system also includes a host computer, which is communicatively connected to the electronic device. The host computer is used to display the updated first track set and second track set.

10. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements the target tracking method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

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