An insightful approach to bearings-only tracking in log-polar coordinates

Abstract: The choice of coordinate system in a bearings-only (BO) tracking problem influences the methods used to observe and predict the state of a moving target. Modified Polar Coordinates (MPC) and Log-Polar Coordinates (LPC) have some advantages over Cartesian coordinates. In this paper, we derive closed-form expressions for the target state prior distribution after ownship manoeuvre: the mean, covariance, and higher-order moments in LPC. We explore the use of these closed-form expressions in simulation by modifying an existing BO tracker that uses the UKF. Rather than propagating sigma points, we directly substitute current values of the mean and covariance into the time update equations at the ownship turn. This modified UKF, the CFE-UKF, performs similarly to the pure UKF, verifying the closed-form expressions. The closed-form third and fourth central moments indicate non-Gaussianity of the target state when the ownship turns. By monitoring these metrics and appropriately initialising relative range error, we can achieve a desired output mean estimated range error (MRE). The availability of these higher-order moments facilitates other extensions of the tracker not possible with a standard UKF.