Optimal observation configuration of UAVs based on angle and range measurements and cooperative target tracking in three-dimensional space

This article investigates the optimal observation configuration of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) based on angle and range measurements, and generalizes predecessors' researches in two dimensions into three dimensions. The relative geometry of the UAVs-target will significantly affect the state estimation performance of the target, the cost function based on the Fisher information matrix (FIM) is used to derive the FIM determinant of UAVs' observation in three-dimensional space, and the optimal observation geometric configuration that maximizes the determinant of the FIM is obtained. It is shown that the optimal observation configuration of the UAVs-target is usually not unique, and the optimal observation configuration is proved for two UAVs and three UAVs in three-dimension. The long-range over-the-horizon target tracking is simulated and analyzed based on the analysis of optimal observation configuration for two UAVs. The simulation results show that the theoretical analysis and control algorithm can effectively improve the positioning accuracy of the target. It can provide a helpful reference for the design of over-the-horizon target localization based on UAVs.