Dynamic Multi-Target Tracking Using Heterogeneous Coverage Control

Abstract

A coverage-based collaborative control strategy is developed in this paper for a multi-robot system with heterogeneous effective sensing ranges and safe operation zones to simultaneously estimate the states of and follow multiple targets governed by stochastic dynamics. Multiplicatively weighted Voronoi diagrams are exploited to define each robot's dominant region considering its limited sensing radius. The asymptotically stable system dynamics enabling the heterogeneous multi-robot system to (locally) optimally cover the time-varying probability density distributions that characterize the uncertainties of the targets' positions is derived, and minimally perturbed by control barrier functions designed to ensure that each robot moves within its safe operation zone in a collision-free manner. Specific target dynamics and measurement models are chosen in the experiment, whose results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed dynamic multi-target tracking approach.