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Due to a production error, in the original article [1], Figs. 1, 2 and 3 were incorrectly published. We apologize for this error. The correct figures, with their corresponding captions, are shown below: Fig. 1. Schematic representation of MAVs with fixed single (a) or double (b) rotors. Fig. 2. Hierarchical flight control architecture for MAVs with fixed rotors. PC: position controller; AC: attitude

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This issue’s column is devoted to the M. Barry Carlton Award. The M. Barry Carlton Award acknowledges what is judged to be the best paper in the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AEROSPACE AND ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS (TAES). To help identify and assess what TAES paper is best, the Carlton Award considers papers published four years earlier in TAES. As such, this year’s Carlton Award is the 2017 M. Barry Carlton Award

The nine papers in this special section focus on meta-level and adversarial tracking. A plethora of well-established tracking algorithms aim to estimate, over time, the latent kinematic state (e.g., position, velocity, higher order kinematics, or any other spatiotemporal characteristic) of a single or multiple targets based on the available sensory observations, including from several sources. Here

Modern tracking problems require fast, scalable, and robust solutions for tracking multiple targets from noisy sensor data. In this article, an algorithm that has linear computational complexity with respect to the number of targets and measurements is presented. The method is based on the propagation of the first two factorial cumulants of a point process. The algorithm is demonstrated for tracking

This article is focused on estimating a quantity of interest in the context of military impact assessment that we shall call adversarial risk. We formulate the adversarial risk as a function of the multiobject state describing a group of weapons, and propose two approaches to estimate it using multiobject filters. The first, optimal, approach is tailored to filters for point processes, and produces

This article addresses the multistatic localization of an object by exploiting the direct-blast and object-reflected signals, where the transmitter location is not known and only the sensor positions are available. We study the cases that either the object or the transmitter is moving, in a noncooperative environment at which unknown offsets are present in the time delay and Doppler shift measurements

The automatic identification system (AIS) is an essential and economical equipment for collision avoidance and maritime surveillance. However, AIS can be subject to intentional reporting of false information, or “spoofing”. This article assumes the vessel trajectory nominally follows a piecewise mean-reverting process; thereby, it addresses the problem of establishing whether a vessel is reporting

Building on the classical interacting multiple model algorithm, this article develops a novel distributed approach for solving the problem of distributed state estimation for stochastic linear hybrid systems. In our distributed framework, a network of sensors is employed and each of them measures only a portion of the system outputs, thus, the system may not necessarily be observable for any individual

Adaptive beamforming with sidelobe-level control in the presence of signal steering vector uncertainty is investigated. Unlike the traditional multiconstrained optimization strategy using the interior point method, iterative optimization algorithms with the aid of the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) framework are proposed. The uncertainty set constraint and the sidelobe constraint

This article considers three interrelated adversarial inference problems involving cognitive radars. We first discuss inverse tracking of the radar to estimate the adversary's estimate of us based on the radar's actions and calibrate the radar's sensing accuracy. Second, using revealed preference from microeconomics, we formulate a nonparametric test to identify if the cognitive radar is a constrained

In this article, we present an algorithm for the discrimination of the target of interest for the purpose of interdiction in the presence of several spurious targets that are intended to confuse the intercept decision. This is applied to an IR (infrared) detection-based tracking system on a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite and an optical sensor-based tracking system on an interceptor. The spurious targets

We present a comparison study of state-of-the-art classical optimization methods to a D-Wave 2000Q quantum annealer for the scheduling of agile Earth observation satellites. The problem is to acquire high-value images while obeying the attitude maneuvering constraint of the satellite. In order to investigate close to real-world problems, we created benchmark problems by simulating realistic scenarios

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In this article, we present a Bayesian framework for maneuvering object tracking and intent prediction using novel $\alpha$ -stable Lévy state-space models, expressed in continuous time as Lévy processes. In contrast to conventional (fully) Gaussian formulations, the proposed models are driven by heavy-tailed $\alpha$ -stable noise and are, thus, much more able to capture extreme values/behaviors.

The problem of sequentially detecting the emergence of a moving anomaly in a sensor network is studied. In the setting considered, the data-generating distribution at each sensor can alternate between a nonanomalous distribution and an anomalous distribution. Initially, the observations of each sensor are generated according to its associated nonanomalous distribution. At some unknown but deterministic

Phased-array multibeam RF beamformers require calibration of receivers used in an array of elements before the signals can be applied to an analog beamforming network. This article presents a fast $\mathcal {O}(n^2)$ algorithm for solving linear systems having a delay Vandermonde matrix (DVM) for the analog beamforming matrix. The structure of the DVM enables to obtain a fast algorithm to efficiently

Incremental control strategies have been proposed recently to reduce the dependence on the aircraft model. However, the technique still requires modeling the actuator effectiveness, which depends on inertial and aerodynamic parameters. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to analyze the robustness of the strategy regarding these parameters. This work focuses on evaluating the robustness of an

This article addresses the problem of suitably defining statistical models of languages derived from context-free grammars (CFGs), where the observed strings may be corrupted by noise or other mechanisms. This article uses the concept of a stochastic syntactic process (SSP), which we have introduced in previous work. An SSP is a stochastic process taking values in the set of all parse trees of a CFG

A new guidance law, based on the solution of a combined linear–quadratic and norm-bounded differential game, is proposed. It hinges on the insight that the hard constraints on the lateral acceleration are critical in the last part of the flight, and in contrast, at the early stages of the flight, it is important to avoid excessive speed loss due to induced drag. This yields a linear–quadratic differential

A motion cueing algorithm (MCA) is employed to transform the linear and angular motion signals generated from a motion simulator without violating the physical and dynamical boundaries of the motion platform. In this respect, the accurate prediction of the motion scenarios is essential to enhance the efficiency of the MCA using prepositioning or time-varying reference model predictive control. While

Electronic attack devices can interrupt a radar system by emitting jamming signals. This function typically depends on the support from electronic support measure (ESM) devices, which can capture and identify radar signals in the air. A radar system can avoid being interrupted by confusing adversarial ESM devices. In this article, at the background of colocated multiple-input multiple-output radar

A compact planar four-element antenna array that can be used to improve the robustness and accuracy in applications of satellite-based navigation systems that require simple, low-cost, lightweight, and efficient antenna solutions is proposed in this article.By introducing an orthonormal transformation in the digital signal processing stage, it is possible to simplify the effect of the distorted in

For a practical engineering system, disturbances usually have a negative impact on system performance. Especially, when the system physical constraints (e.g., actuator amplitude saturation and input channel constraint) are present, the study for antidisturbance controllability (ADC) is of paramount importance. This article presents the concepts of disturbance estimability, disturbance compensability

In multitarget scenarios, the masking of small targets by large targets nearby may severely deteriorate radar detectability due to the range and Doppler sidelobes. In this article, a 2-D joint iterative adaptive filtering (2-D JIAF) method is proposed, by adopting the reiterative minimum mean square error (RMMSE) criterion to the outputs of a 2-D matched filter. The main advantages of the proposed

On a grand scale, motion trajectories are usually defined by an origin, a sequence of waypoints, and a destination. A typical example is in air traffic management (ATM), where a flight from an origin passes several waypoints and arrives at a destination. The origin, the waypoints, and the destination contain useful information for trajectory modeling. On the other hand, due to trajectory design criteria

Time reversal can resolve multipath problems and increase the detection probability, but the detection performance decreases when the target is moving. Because of the change in the channel response due to target motion, the focusing effect of a time-reversal-transmitted signal is reduced. In this article, a novel method based on time reversal, which detects a moving target embedded in a multipath environment

Inspired by the background adaptive mechanism of eagle vision in different hunting environment, a biological eagle-eye vision adaptation mechanism algorithm is proposed for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to detect the long-distance maritime small target in complex and changeable sea environment. First, the various environment adjustment abilities are summarized according to the physiological structures

For telemetry data processing systems, estimating the bit error probability of received data is important in terms of data quality. For systems in which the number of allowable errors in an $M$ -bit frame syncword (FS) of a telemetry data frame is $K$ and the numbers of FSs with no error, one error, $\dots$ , $K$ errors, and more than $K$ errors are given, respectively, it is known from the literature

This article presents new analytical results that fundamentally ensure the applicability of the state-dependent Riccati equation (SDRE) scheme, for the three-degree-of-freedom helicopter control system that is of benchmark importance. The analysis removes any online time-consuming applicability check that is in terms of the pointwise solvability of SDRE, which leverages a series of equivalence transformations

This article proposes a low-thrust reconfiguration strategy for formation flying based on the Jordan normal form and evaluates its performance based on the required control acceleration and fuel cost. First, the relative dynamics of reconfiguration is disposed by Jordan decomposition to describe the unstable component, i.e., the drift velocity along the track direction, which is not explicit in eigenstructure

This article introduces two new algorithms to accurately estimate the process noise covariance of a discrete-time Kalman filter online for robust orbit determination in the presence of dynamics model uncertainties. Common orbit determination process noise techniques, such as state noise compensation and dynamic model compensation, require offline tuning and a priori knowledge of the dynamical environment

Nowadays, liquid rocket engines use closed-loop control at most near-steady operating conditions. The control of the transient phases is traditionally performed in open loop due to highly nonlinear system dynamics. This situation is unsatisfactory, in particular for reusable engines. The open-loop control system cannot provide optimal engine performance due to external disturbances or the degeneration

Radar specific emitter identification (SEI) is the process of uniquely identifying an individual emitter from the same class of radars by their individual properties that arise from hardware imperfections. However, it is challenging or perhaps impossible to generate globally unique emitter identifiers by using SEI techniques alone, due to the increasing number of radars and the subtle differences in

Accurate georegistration is required in airborne surveillance of ground targets since even a small bias in sensor registration may result in a large error in the converted target geolocation. Thus, this article addresses the problem of estimating and correcting the sensor biases in target geolocation. The effect of sensor biases on target geolocation is modeled and decoupled from the true target geolocation

A cooperative blind spectrum detection with the Doolittle decomposition and support vector machine (SVM) classification is proposed to improve the performance and reduce the complexity and latency of spectrum detection in hybrid Geostationary Earth Orbit and Low Earth Orbit (GEO-LEO) satellite constellation networks. First, a principal component analysis (PCA) algorithm is adopted to process perceive

The emerging technology of mixed radio frequency (RF)/free space optical (FSO) communications offers a great deal of merits in seamless channels and has potential for use in deep space exploration. In this article, a new paradigm with the dual-hop mixed RF/FSO system for the deep space communications link during a superior solar conjunction is proposed. The performance of this system, which is composed

Most of the investigations on the micro-Doppler (MD) effect caused by a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) have been conducted using joint time–frequency (JTF) images rather than the Doppler spectrum. On the other hand, several researchers utilized the Doppler spectrum instead of JTF images to observe the MD signature of a small UAV, and found the relationship between the spectral distribution of

This article proposes a guidance strategy that enables the interceptor to control its impact time against stationary targets, while also meeting the field-of-view (FOV) constraints of the on-board seeker. The guidance strategy, so designed, always keeps the target within its FOV using its seeker. A barrier Lyapunov function is used to meet the FOV constraints, and an approximate expression for the

This article addresses the formation tracking control problem for multiple spacecraft systems subject to limited communication resources and external disturbances. Considering that only a subset of the follower spacecraft can have access to the motion states of the dynamic leader, an event-based distributed observer is first developed to reconstruct the leader's information. Subsequently, to achieve

In this article, an adaptive fault-tolerant control scheme is proposed for nonlinear systems with actuator redundancy. To simultaneously consider multiple types of actuator faults and enable the use of an ideal system with nonlinear dynamics, the $\mathcal {L}_1$ adaptive control scheme for nonlinear time-varying reference systems is extended to systems with redundant inputs and an input gain uncertainty

In this article, a nonlinear three-dimensional guidance strategy for multiple identical constant speed interceptors is proposed to capture a stationary target simultaneously. To design this proposed guidance strategy, a proportional navigation based time-to-go estimate, without any small angle assumption, is used. Based on the maximum value of time-to-go estimates of all interceptors, the range error

In this article, we review and compare different methods for the localization of an illuminator of opportunity for passive radar systems employing cooperative targets. For assessment and comparison, we use numerical simulations and real-world radar measurements. To achieve reliable operation under real-world conditions, a correct and robust association of the bistatic radar target observations with

This article proposes a Gaussian filtering method to approximate the single-target updates and normalizing constants for multitarget tracking with nonlinear, non-Gaussian measurements, and a state-dependent probability of detection. The Gaussian approximation is based on the posterior linearization technique, which seeks the optimal affine approximation of the nonlinearities in a mean square error

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Presents a listing of the editorial board, board of governors, current staff, committee members, and/or society editors for this issue of the publication.

In this article, we develop an algorithm for the estimation of a full six degree of freedom position, navigation, and timing solution in deep space by measuring the time and angle of arrival of x-rays photons from pulsars and other bright stars. We show that for pulsar navigation, the position and attitude determination problems are coupled. This is due in part to the small signal-to-noise ratio of

Spacecraft relative trajectory planning is central to many space missions like on-orbit service and debris removal. While early attempts of machine-learning-based trajectory planning have been witnessed, they still face the open problem of how to acquire sufficient training samples to conduct robust training. In this article, we have introduced a meta-learning framework to improve the adaptation ability

This article examines global navigation satellite system (GNSS) phase windup, which we define to be the combined effects of 3-D rotation and antenna phase patterns on carrier-phase measurements. Specifically, phase windup equations are presented for antennae with spatially varying phase patterns, for instance, phase patterns defined as a function of the satellite line-of-sight direction, as might be

In this article, a novel fractional-order nonsingular terminal sliding mode (FONTSM) control scheme is developed, which guarantees the desired deployment performance of space tethered satellite (STS) system. The presented control scheme is to stabilize the underactuated deployment mission with only tension regulation. Based on the underactuated model, a practicable integer-order nonsingular terminal

This article presents a fuzzy adaptive tracking control algorithm for hypersonic flight vehicles with input quantization and faults. Different from the usual stabilization results, we present a method to achieve asymptotic tracking with predefined-time performance. An error transformation is established and a modified Lyapunov function (MLF) is constructed. The predefined-time asymptotic tracking control

The interrupted-sampling repeater jamming (ISRJ) is a kind of intrapulse coherent deception jamming, it produces false-target peaks, which obfuscate the real target detection and tracking. In this article, a novel recognition method is proposed to identify the false-target peaks caused by ISRJ. The proposed method is realized via the integration decomposition of pulse compression, and the intermediate

Through-wall human sensing is of high interest for both military and nonmilitary applications, including counter-terrorism and law enforcement purposes, particularly in the modern, highly urbanized environment. Conventional active radar sensors possess good performance, however, at the expense of high cost and complexity of the transmitter/receiver design. This article demonstrates the effectiveness

Remote sensing images obtained from onboard linear array cameras suffer from geometric disturbances in the presence of attitude jitter from a satellite platform. Thus, platform jitter estimation is essential for improving satellite stability and enhancing remote sensing image quality. In this article, a novel integration framework is designed to estimate attitude fluctuation, which combines multispectral

Any reliable model for scheduling optical space-to-ground communication must factor in cloud cover conditions due to attenuation of the laser beam by water droplets in the clouds. In this article, we provide two alternative models of uncertainty for cloud cover predictions: a robust optimization model with a polyhedral uncertainty set and a distributionally robust optimization model with a moment-based

An aircraft transition connects two flight conditions and is a fundamental component of aerospace operations. For achieving a seamless transition that accurately connects two steady flights, a hierarchical parameterization method is developed in this article for generating smooth flight trajectories satisfying hard boundary constraints on controls and control derivatives of all orders. The proposed