Constrained target motion modeling - Part II: Circular track

Turning is one of the most fundamental target motions. Its modeling has been well studied for unconstrained targets, e.g., air targets. However, existing turning models can not be directly used for constrained target motion on circular tracks, which has wide application, e.g., in ground target tracking. This paper models the constrained target motion on a circular track. First, it explicitly sets up the constraints imposed by the circular track. Then it obtaines two forms of the target motion models along the circular track. The first form is obtained based on direct elimination with the classical constant turn model as the desired model class. The second form is obtained based on along-track motion projection, which is advantageous in two aspects: clear physical meaning and computational considerations (weaker nonlinear and less potential numerical problem). Extension to target motion modeling along elliptic track is also discussed.