Application of adaptive filtering techniques to interceptors

Abstract

An interceptor may encounter highly maneuverable targets that may cause its on-board filter to lose tracking of the target, thereby causing the interceptor to miss the target. These tracking filters typically estimate either line-of-sight/line-of-sight rate or position/velocity (depending on the type of measurements available) for guidance purposes and are usually constant-parameter Kalman filters. Here, we demonstrate the applicability of a particular adaptive filtering technique which monitors the innovations process to detect the presence of a maneuver and subsequently modifies the filter process noise term. This particular technique is less computationally intensive than other adaptive filtering techniques and seems to be well suited for implementation on board an interceptor. We then implement and test the algorithm in a 6-degree-of-freedom terminal homing simulation of both interceptor and target and demonstrate improved tracking performance and miss distance using the adaptive filter for a limited set of accelerating targets. (Author) Abstract An interceptor may encounter highly maneuverable targets that may cause its on-board filter to lose tracking of the target, thereby causing the interceptor to miss the target. These tracking filters typically estimate either line-of-sight/line-of-sight rate or position/velocity (depending on the type of measurements available) for guidance purposes and are usually constant-parameter Kalman filters. There has been a significant amount of research performed recently in the area of adaptive filtering. In this effort, we will demonstrate the applicability of a particular adaptive filtering technique which monitors the innovations process to detect the presence of a maneuver and subsequently modifies the filter process noise term.This particular technique is less computationally intensive than other adaptive filtering techniques and seems to be well-suited for implementation on board an interceptor. We will then implement and test the algorithm in a 6 Degree of Freedom terminal homing simulation of both interceptor and target and will demonstrate improved tracking performance and miss distance using the adaptive filter for a limited set of accelerating targets.