Shipborne Radar Target Estimation via Stationary Reference Filtering

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional target object movement estimating devices suffer from accuracy degradation due to disturbances in location measurement data, particularly when the ship's movement state changes rapidly, leading to temporary precision loss and delayed recovery in estimation accuracy.

Innovation Solution

The device uses a stationary point reference target object location, independent of the ship's movement, for filtering, and selectively switches between this location and target object relative location based on GNSS accuracy, employing a filtering module that includes a Kalman filter or αβ tracker for smoothing and estimation.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Stability of the object's composition

If smoothing is performed using a recursive digital filter to reduce disturbance influence, then estimation stability is improved, but estimation accuracy degrades due to delay in the movement estimation result

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveestimation stabilityVSAvoidestimation accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
Stability of the object's compositionVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the estimation process into two independent parts: one for stability (smoothing filter using stationary point reference location) and one for accuracy (relative location information). By separating these functions, the system maintains estimation stability while preserving accuracy through the use of unsmoothed relative location data for certain calculations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces a switching mechanism as an intermediary that selectively combines outputs from the smoothing filter and raw measurement data. This intermediary component allows the system to switch between filtered and unfiltered data based on current operational conditions, thereby resolving the contradiction between stability and accuracy.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Ease of operation

If location measurement data is created based on ship location and radar signals, then target tracking is achieved, but accuracy degrades when ship movement state changes rapidly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetarget tracking capabilityVSAvoidestimation precision
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the ship's movement influence from the location measurement data by using stationary point reference location. By removing the ship movement component, the system obtains target location information that is independent of ship motion, thereby maintaining estimation precision even when ship movement state changes rapidly.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

Instead of calculating target location directly from ship-relative radar coordinates (which embeds ship movement), the patent inverts the approach by first establishing a stationary reference frame and then expressing target location relative to this fixed point, effectively eliminating ship movement from the measurement equation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

3Measurement precision

If stationary point reference target object location is used for filtering, then ship movement influence is removed, but system complexity increases due to switching between different location types

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemovement state estimation accuracyVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements a dynamic switching mechanism that adaptively selects between stationary point reference location and ship-relative location based on current operational conditions. This dynamic approach allows the system to maintain high estimation accuracy while managing complexity through context-dependent operation rather than fixed architecture.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentEP2479585B1Target object movement estimating device
Publication Date: 2017.08.30 FURUNO ELECTRIC CO LTD
  • EP2479585B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2479585B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP2479585B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4

AI summary

The disclosure provides a target object movement estimating device which can output a movement estimation result which is less influenced by a change of a movement state of the device. A target object movement estimating module (6) provided to a radar device includes a target object relative coordinate acquisition module (61), a stationary point reference target object coordinates acquisition module (62), and a filtering module (64). The target object relative coordinate acquisition module (61) is carried in a ship, and acquires relative coordinates (Trx, Try) indicative of a relative location of a target object with respect to the ship location based on a radar echo. The stationary point reference target object coordinates acquisition module (62) acquires stationary point reference coordinates (Tax, Tay) indicative a location of the target object with respect to a stationary point, based on the relative coordinates (Trx, Try) and the ship location. The filtering module (64) is inputted with the stationary point reference coordinates (Tax, Tay), and then estimates movement information on the target object.