Robust visual tracking by an active observer

In this paper we address the problem of tracking a moving target by a monocular observer. The ability to track a moving object has many applications in robotics, teleoperation, surveillance systems, human-machine interfaces, etc. Our goal was the development of a robust tracking system for practical (industrial) applications and therefore based on inexpensive hardware. The strategy we present is based on the integration of correlation based techniques together with active contours, using a Kalman filtering approach. The overall operating frequency is about 6 Hz. The system is robust both to changes in the illumination and multiple moving objects in cluttered environments. Results are presented and discussed.