Date of Award

12-1990

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Electrical Engineering

Department

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

First Advisor

Peter Maybeck, PhD

Abstract

This thesis investigates Kalman filter tracking of a missile hardbody, at a range of 2,000 kilometers, using forward looking infrared (FLIR) measurements and low-energy laser illumination of the missile hardbody. A missile reflectivity model provides realism in the simulation. The tracking scenario uses one filter, provided with FLIR measurements, to estimate the intensity centroid location of the missile's plume. A second, independent, filter estimates the center-of-mass of the missile hardbody. The center-of-mass measurements provided to this filter are computed from information gathered by scanning a low-energy laser along the first filter's estimate of the missile velocity vector. Single scans of the laser produce 20 percent reflection returns, while a sweep (multiple scans) provides a measurement at each sample time. The need for a laser sweep results from inaccurate filter pointing of the FLIR sensor. A comparison between a one-state and two-state filter in estimating the hardbody center-of-mass shows that a one-state estimator performs as well as a two-state filter, with almost no error. The principle error in estimating the missile center-of-mass is along the centerline of the missile, for which the one-state filter is tuned.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-GE-ENG-90D-20

DTIC Accession Number

ADA231196

Comments

The author's Vita page is omitted

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