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trackerGridRFS

Grid-based multi-object tracker

Since R2020b

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Description

The trackerGridRFS System object™ is a tracker capable of processing detections of multiple targets from multiple sensors in a 2-D environment. The tracker tracks dynamic objects around an autonomous system using high resolution sensor data such as point clouds and radar detections. The tracker uses the random finite set (RFS) based approach combined with Dempster-Shafer approximations defined in [1] to estimate the dynamic characteristics of the grid cells. To extract objects from the grid, the tracker uses a cell-to-track association scheme [2]. For more details, see Algorithms.

To track targets using this object:

  1. Create the trackerGridRFS object and set its properties.

  2. Call the object with arguments, as if it were a function.

To learn more about how System objects work, see What Are System Objects?

Creation

Syntax

tracker = trackerGridRFS
tracker = trackerGridRFS(Name,Value)

Description

tracker = trackerGridRFS creates a trackerGridRFS System object with default property values.

example

tracker = trackerGridRFS(Name,Value) sets properties for the tracker using one or more name-value pairs. For example, trackerGridRFS('MaxNumTracks',100) creates a grid-based multi-object tracker that allows a maximum of 100 tracks. Enclose each property name in quotes.

Properties

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Unless otherwise indicated, properties are nontunable, which means you cannot change their values after calling the object. Objects lock when you call them, and the release function unlocks them.

If a property is tunable, you can change its value at any time.

For more information on changing property values, see System Design in MATLAB Using System Objects.

Tracker Configuration

Unique tracker identifier, specified as a nonnegative integer. This property is used as the SourceIndex in the tracker outputs, and distinguishes tracks that come from different trackers in a multiple-tracker system. You must specify this property as a positive integer to use the track outputs as inputs to a track fuser.

Example: 1

Configuration of tracking sensors, specified as a trackingSensorConfiguration objects, an array of trackingSensorConfiguration, or a cell array of array of trackingSensorConfiguration objects. This property provides the tracking sensor configuration information, such as sensor detection limits, sensor resolution, and sensor mounting, to the tracker. There are no default values for the SensorConfigurations property, and you must specify the SensorConfigurations property before using the tracker. You can update the configuration, if the HasSensorConfigurationsInput property is set to true, by specifying the configuration input argument configs.

When specifying the trackingSensorConfiguration object, the following properties must be specified with these formats:

Property NameFormat
SensorIndex

Unique identifier of the sensor, specified as a positive integer.

IsValidTime

Indicate if the sensor data should be used to update tracks, specified as true or false.

SensorTransformParameters

Parameters of sensor transform function, specified as a p-element array of measurement parameter structures. p is the number of sensors. The structure should contain fields with the same names as the measurement parameters used in a measurement function, such as the cvmeas function.

The first structure must describe the transformation from the autonomous system to the sensor coordinates. The subsequent structure describes the transformation from the autonomous system to the tracking coordinate frame. If only one structure is provided, the tracker assumes tracking is performed in the coordinate frame of the autonomous system.

SensorLimits

Sensor detection limits, specified as a 2-by-2 matrix of scalars. The first row specifies the lower and upper limits of the azimuth angle in degrees. The second row specifies the lower and upper limits of the detection range in meters.

The tracker ignores the FilterInitializationFcn, SensorTransformFcn, and MaxNumDetsPerObject properties of the trackingSensorConfiguration object.

Alternately, you can specify this property using structures with fields names same as the property names of the trackingSensorConfiguration object.

Enable updating sensor configurations with time, specified as false or true. Set this property to true if you want the configurations of the sensors updated with time. When this property is set to true, you must specify the configuration input configs when using this object.

Data Types: logical

Parameters of the track state reference frame, specified as a structure or a structure array. The tracker passes its StateParameters property values to the StateParameters property of the generated tracks. You can use these parameters to define the reference frame in which the track is reported or other desirable attributes of the generated tracks.

For example, you can use the following structure to define a rectangular reference frame whose origin position is at [10 10 0] meters and whose origin velocity is [2 -2 0] meters per second with respect to the scenario frame.

Field NameValue
Frame"Rectangular"
Position[10 10 0]
Velocity[2 -2 0]

Tunable: Yes

Data Types: struct

Maximum number of sensors that can be connected to the tracker, specified as a positive integer. MaxNumSensors must be greater than or equal to the largest value of SensorIndex found in all the sensor data and configurations used to update the tracker.

Data Types: single | double

Maximum number of tracks that the tracker can maintain, specified as a positive integer.

Data Types: single | double

Grid Definition

x-direction dimension of the grid in the local coordinates, specified as a positive scalar in meters.

y-direction dimension of the grid in the local coordinates, specified as a positive scalar in meters.

Resolution of the grid, specified as a positive scalar. GridResolution represents the number of cells per meter of the grid for both the x- and y-direction of the grid.

Location of the grid origin in the local coordinate frame, specified as a two-element vector of scalars in meters. The grid origin represents the bottom-left corner of the grid.

Particle Filtering

Motion model for tracking, specified as 'constant-velocity', 'constant-acceleration', or 'constant-turn-rate'. The particle state and object state for each motion model are:

MotionModelParticle StateObject State
'constant-velocity'[x; vx; y; vy] [x; vx; y; vy; yaw; L; W]
'constant-acceleration'[x; vx; ax; y; vy; ay][x; vx; ax; y; vy; ay; yaw; L; W]
'constant-turn-rate'[x; vx; y; vy; w][x; vx; y; vy; w; yaw; L; W]

where:

  • x — Position of the object in the x direction of the local tracking frame (m)

  • y — Position of the object in the y direction of the local tracking frame (m)

  • vx — Velocity of the object in the x direction of the local tracking frame (m/s)

  • vy — Velocity of the object in the y direction of the local tracking frame (m/s)

  • ax — Acceleration of the object in the x direction of the local tracking frame (m/s2)

  • ay — Acceleration of the object in the y direction of the local tracking frame (m/s2)

  • w — Yaw-rate of the object in the local tracking frame (degree/s)

  • yaw — Yaw angle of the object in the local tracking frame (deg)

  • L — Length of the object (m)

  • W — Width of the object (m)

Minimum and maximum velocity of objects, specified as a 2-by-2 matrix of scalars in m/s. The first row specifies the lower and upper velocity limits in the x-direction and the second row specifies the lower and upper velocity limits in the y-direction. The tracker uses these limits to sample new particles in the grid using a uniform distribution.

Minimum and maximum acceleration of objects, specified as a 2-by-2 matrix of scalars in m/s2. The first row specifies the lower and upper acceleration limits in the x-direction and the second row specifies the lower and upper acceleration limits in the y-direction. The tracker uses these limits to sample new particles in the grid using a uniform distribution.

This property is only active when the MotionModel property is set to 'constant-acceleration'.

Minimum and maximum turn rate of objects, specified a two-element vector of scalars in degree/s. The first element defines the minimum turn rate and the second element defines the maximum turn-rate.

This property is only active when the MotionModel property is set to 'constant-turnrate'.

Process noise covariance, specified as an N-by-N matrix of scalars. This property specifies the process noise for positions of particles and the geometric centers of targets.

  • When the HasAdditiveProcessNoise property is set to true, the process directly adds to the prediction model. In this case, N is equal to the dimension of the particle state.

  • When the HasAdditiveProcessNoise property is set to false, define the process noise according to the selected motion model. The process noise is added to the higher order terms, such as the acceleration for the 'constant-velocity' model.

    MotionModelNumber of Terms for AccelerationMeaning of Terms
    'constant-velocity'2Acceleration in the x and y directions
    'constant-acceleration'2Jerk in the x and y directions
    'constant-turn-rate'3Acceleration in the x and y directions as well as the angular acceleration

Example: [1.0 0.05; 0.05 2]

Tunable: Yes

Enable to model process noise as additive, specified as true or false. When this property is true, process noise is added directly to the state vector. Otherwise, noise is incorporated in the motion model.

Example: true

Number of particles per grid, specified as a positive integer. A higher number of particles can improve estimation quality, but can increase computational cost.

Number of newborn (initialized) particles per time step, specified as a positive integer. The tracker determines the locations of these new-born particles by using the mismatch between the predicted and the updated occupancy belief masses and the BirthProbability property. A reasonable value of the NumBirthParticles property is approximately ten percent of the number of particles specified by the NumParticles property.

Probability of target birth in a cell per step, specified as a scalar in the range [0 1). The birth probability controls the probability that new particles are generated in a cell.

Example: 1e-4

Death rate of particles per unit time, specified as a positive scalar. Death rate indicates the possibility that a particle or target vanishes after one time step. Death rate influences the survival probability (Ps) of a component between successive time steps as:

Ps=(1−Pd)ΔT

where ΔT is the time step.

Example: 1e-4

Tunable: Yes

Confidence in free space prediction, specified as a scalar. In the prediction stage of the tracker, the belief mass of a cell to be in the "free" (unoccupied) state is reduced by the FreeSpaceDiscountFactor:

mk|k−1(F)=αΔTmk−1(F)

where k is the time step index, m is the belief mass, α is the free space discount factor, and ΔT is the time step.

Tunable: Yes

Track Initialization

Clustering method used for new object extraction, specified as 'DBSCAN' or 'Custom'.

  • 'DBSCAN' — Cluster unassigned dynamic grid cells using the density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN) algorithm. You can configure the DBSCAN algorithm by specifying the ClusteringThreshold and MinNumCellsPerCluster properties of the tracker.

  • 'Custom' — Cluster unassigned dynamic grid cells using a custom clustering function specified in the CustomClusteringFcn property of the tracker.

Threshold for DBSCAN clustering, specified as a positive scalar.

To enable this property, set the Clustering property to 'DBSCAN'.

Custom function for clustering unassigned grid cells, specified as a function handle. The function must support this signature:

function indices = myFunction(dynamicGridCells)
where dynamicGridCells is a structure defining a set of grid cells initializing the track. It must have these fields:

FieldDescription
WidthWidth of the cell, specified as a positive scalar.
GridIndicesIndices of the grid cells, specified as an N-by-2 array, where N is the number of unassigned cells. The first element specifies the grid index in the x-direction and the second element specifies the grid index in the y-direction.
StateStates of the grid cells, specified as a P-by-N array of scalars, where P is the dimension of the state and N is the number of unassigned cells.
StateCovarianceState covariances of the grid cells, specified as a P-by-P-by-N array of scalars, where P is the dimension of the state and N is the number of unassigned cells.
OccupancyMassOccupancy belief mass of the cells, specified as an N-element vector, where N is the number of unassigned cells.
FreeMassFree belief mass of the cells, specified as an N-element vector, where N is the number of unassigned cells.

indices must be returned as an N-element vector of indices defining the cluster index for each dynamic grid cell.

To enable this property, set the Clustering property to 'Custom'.

Minimum number of cells per cluster for DBSCAN, specified as a positive scalar. This property affects whether a point is a core point in the DBSCAN algorithm.

To enable this property, set the Clustering property to 'DBSCAN'.

Function to initialize new tracks, specified as a function handle. The initialization function initiates a track from a set of dynamic grid cells.

The default initialization function merges the Gaussian estimate from each cell to describe the state of the object. The orientation of the object is aligned with the direction of its mean velocity. With a defined orientation, the length and width of the object are extracted using the geometric properties of the cells. The object calculates uncertainties in length, width, and orientation estimates using linear approximations.

If you choose to customize your own initialization function, the function must support the following signature:

function track = myFunction(dynamicGridCells)
where dynamicGridCells is a structure defining a set of grid cells initializing the track. It has the following fields:

FieldDescription
WidthWidth of the cell, specified as a positive scalar.
GridIndicesIndices of the grid cells, specified as an N-by-2 array, where N is the number of unassigned cells. The first element specifies the grid index in the x-direction and the second element specifies the grid index in the y-direction.
StateStates of the grid cells, specified as a P-by-N array of scalars, where P is the dimension of the state and N is the number of unassigned cells.
StateCovarianceState covariances of the grid cells, specified as a P-by-P-by-N array of scalars, where P is the dimension of the state and N is the number of unassigned cells.
OccupancyMassOccupancy belief mass of the cells, specified as an N-element vector, where N is the number of unassigned cells.
FreeMassFree belief mass of the cells, specified as an N-element vector, where N is the number of unassigned cells.

track must be returned as an objectTrack object or a structure whose field names are the same as the property names of an objectTrack object. The dimension of the state must be the same as the state dimension specified in the MotionModel property.

Track Management

Function to update an existing track using its associated set of dynamic grid cells, specified as a function handle.

The default update function updates the State and StateCovariance properties of the track using the new estimate from the dynamic grid cells associated with the track. The update process is similar to the initialization process for the TrackInitializationFcn property. The tracker does not apply filtering to the state and state covariance.

If you choose to customize your own update function, the function must support this signature:

function updatedTrack = TrackUpdateFcn(predictedTrack,dynamicGridCells)
where:

  • predictedTrack is the predicted track of an object, specified as an objectTrack object.

  • dynamicGridCells is a structure defining a set of dynamic grid cells associated to the track. The structure has these fields:

    FieldDescription
    WidthWidth of the cell, specified as a positive scalar.
    GridIndicesIndices of the grid cells, specified as an N-by-2 array, where N is the number of unassigned cells. The first element specifies the grid index in the x-direction and the second element specifies the grid index in the y-direction.
    StateStates of the grid cells, specified as a P-by-N array of scalars, where P is the dimension of the state and N is the number of unassigned cells.
    StateCovarianceState covariances of the grid cells, specified as a P-by-P-by-N array of scalars, where P is the dimension of the state and N is the number of unassigned cells.
    OccupancyMassOccupancy belief mass of the cells, specified as an N-element array of scalars, where N is the number of unassigned cells.
    FreeMassFree belief mass of the cells, specified as an N-element array of scalars, where N is the number of unassigned cells.

  • updatedTrack is the updated track, returned as an objectTrack object or a structure whose field names are the same as the property names of an objectTrack object.

Threshold for assigning dynamic grid cells to tracks, specified as a positive scalar. A dynamic grid cell can only be associated to a track if its distance (represented by the negative log-likelihood) to the track is less than the AssignmentThreshold value.

  • Increase the threshold if a dynamic cell is not being assigned to a track that it should be assigned to.

  • Decrease the threshold if there are dynamic cells being assigned to a track that they should be not assigned to.

Example: 18.1

Threshold for track confirmation, specified as a real-valued 1-by-2 vector of positive integers [M N]. A track is confirmed if it has been assigned to any dynamic grid cell in at least M updates of the last N updates.

Threshold for track deletion, specified as a real-valued 1-by-2 vector of positive integers [P R]. A track is deleted if has not been assigned to any dynamic grid cell in at least P updates of the last R updates.

Example: 0.01

Data Types: single | double

This property is read-only.

Number of tracks maintained by the tracker, returned as a nonnegative integer.

Data Types: double

This property is read-only.

Number of confirmed tracks, returned as a nonnegative integer. If the IsConfirmed property of an output track object is true, the track is confirmed.

Data Types: double

Enable using GPU for estimation of the dynamic grid map, specified as true or false. Enabling GPU computation requires the Parallel Computing Toolbox™.

Usage

Syntax

confirmedTracks = tracker(sensorData,time)
confirmedTracks = tracker(sensorData,configs,time)
[confirmedTracks,tentativeTracks,allTracks] = tracker(___)
[confirmedTracks,tentativeTracks,allTracks,map] = tracker(___)

Description

confirmedTracks = tracker(sensorData,time) returns a list of confirmed tracks that are updated from a list of sensor data sensorData at the update time time. Confirmed tracks are corrected and predicted to the update time.

confirmedTracks = tracker(sensorData,configs,time) also specifies the configurations of sensors configs. To enable this syntax, set the HasSensorConfigurationsInput property to true.

[confirmedTracks,tentativeTracks,allTracks] = tracker(___) also returns a list of tentative tracks tentativeTracks and a list of all tracks allTracks. You can use any combination of input arguments from previous syntaxes.

[confirmedTracks,tentativeTracks,allTracks,map] = tracker(___) additionally returns the evidential grid map maintained in the tracker. You can use the returned map to obtain details on the estimates.

Input Arguments

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Sensor data, specified as an N-element array of structures. Each structure must define the measurement from a high resolution sensor using the these fields:

FieldsDescription
TimeTime at which the sensor reports the data, specified as a nonnegative scalar.
SensorIndexUnique identifier of the sensor, specified as a positive integer.
MeasurementMeasurements of the sensor, specified a K-by-M matrix of scalars. K is the dimension of measurements, and M is the number of measurements. Each measurement defines the positional aspects of the detection in a rectangular or spherical frame.
MeasurementParametersMeasurement parameters, specified as a structure describing the transformation from the particle state to measurement. See Object Detections for more details.

The Time value must be less than or equal to the current update time, time, and greater than the previous time value used to update the tracker.

Time of update, specified as a scalar. The tracker updates all tracks to this time. Units are in seconds.

time must be greater than or equal to the largest Time field value of the sensorData structures. time must increase in value with each update to the tracker.

Data Types: single | double

Sensor configurations, specified as an array of structures, a cell array of structures, or a cell array of trackingSensorConfiguration objects. If you specify the value using an array of structures or a cell array of structures, you must include SensorIndex as a field in each structure. Other fields are optional, but each field in a structure must have the same names as the trackingSensorConfiguration object properties. You only need to specify sensor configurations that need to be updated. For example, if you want to update the IsValidTime property for only the fifth sensor, specify configs as struct('SensorIndex',5,'IsValidTime',false).

Tip

If you have a fusionRadarSensor sensor object in the tracking system, you can directly use the configuration structure output of the sensor object as this input.

Dependencies

To enable this argument, set the HasSensorConfigurationsInput property to true.

Output Arguments

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Confirmed tracks updated to the current time, returned as an array of objectTrack objects, where each element represents the track of an object. The state form of each track follows the form specified in the MotionModel property.

Tentative tracks, returned as an array of objectTrack objects, where each element represents the track of an object. The state form of each track follows the form specified in the MotionModel property.

All tracks, returned as an array of objectTrack objects, where each element represents the track of an object. The state form of each track follows the form specified in the MotionModel property.

Dynamic evidential grid map, returned as a dynamicEvidentialGridMap object.

Object Functions

To use an object function, specify the System object as the first input argument. For example, to release system resources of a System object named obj, use this syntax:

release(obj)

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predictTracksToTimePredict track state
predictMapToTimePredict dynamic map to a time stamp
showDynamicMapPlot dynamic occupancy grid map
stepRun System object algorithm
releaseRelease resources and allow changes to System object property values and input characteristics
isLockedDetermine if System object is in use
cloneCreate duplicate System object
resetReset internal states of System object

Examples

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Open Live Script

Create a tracking scenario.

scene = trackingScenario('UpdateRate',5,'StopTime',5);
rng(2021); % For reproducible results

Add a platform with a mounted lidar sensor to the tracking scenario.

plat = platform(scene);
lidar = monostaticLidarSensor(1,'DetectionCoordinates','Body','HasOrganizedOutput',false);

Add two targets with random positions and velocities to the scenario. Also, define the trajectory, mesh, and dimension of each platform.

for i = 1:2
    target = platform(scene);
    x = 50*(2*rand - 1);
    y = 50*(2*rand - 1);
    vx = 5*(2*rand - 1);
    vy = 5*(2*rand - 1);
    target.Trajectory.Position = [x y 0];
    target.Trajectory.Velocity = [vx vy 0];
    % Align the orientation of the target with the direction of motion.
    target.Trajectory.Orientation = quaternion([atan2d(vy,vx),0,0],'eulerd','ZYX','frame');
    target.Mesh = extendedObjectMesh('sphere');
    target.Dimensions = struct('Length',4,'Width',4,'Height',2,'OriginOffset',[0 0 0]);
end

Define the configuration of the lidar sensor. 

config = trackingSensorConfiguration(1,...
    'SensorLimits',[-180 180;0 100],...
    'SensorTransformParameters',struct,...
    'IsValidTime',true);

Create a grid-based tracker.

tracker = trackerGridRFS('SensorConfigurations',config,...
    'AssignmentThreshold',5,...
    'MinNumCellsPerCluster',4,...
    'ClusteringThreshold',3);

Define a theaterPlot object and two associated plotters for visualizing the tracking scene.

tp = theaterPlot('XLimits',[-50 50],'YLimits',[-50 50]);
trkPlotter = trackPlotter(tp,'DisplayName','Tracks','MarkerFaceColor','g');
tthPlotter = platformPlotter(tp,'DisplayName','Truths','MarkerFaceColor','r','ExtentAlpha',0.2);

Advance the scenario and run the tracker with the lidar data.

while advance(scene)
    
    time = scene.SimulationTime;
    
    % Generate point cloud.
    tgtMeshes = targetMeshes(plat);
    [ptCloud, config] = lidar(tgtMeshes, time);
    
    % Format the data for the tracker.
    sensorData = struct('Time',time,...
        'SensorIndex',1,...
        'Measurement',ptCloud',...
        'MeasurementParameters',struct...
        );
    
    % Update the tracker using the sensor data.
    tracks = tracker(sensorData, time);
    
    % Visualize tracks.
    pos = zeros(numel(tracks),3);
    vel = zeros(numel(tracks),3);
    orient = quaternion.ones(numel(tracks),1);
    dim = repmat(plat.Dimensions,numel(tracks),1);
    ids = string([tracks.TrackID]);
    
    for i = 1:numel(tracks)
        vel(i,:) = [tracks(i).State(2);tracks(i).State(4);0];
        pos(i,:) = [tracks(i).State(1);tracks(i).State(3);0];
        dim(i).Length = tracks(i).State(6);
        dim(i).Width = tracks(i).State(7);
        orient(i) = quaternion([tracks(i).State(5) 0 0],'eulerd','ZYX','frame');
    end
    trkPlotter.plotTrack(pos,dim,orient,ids);
    
    % Visualize platforms.
    pos = vertcat(tgtMeshes.Position);
    meshes = vertcat(tgtMeshes.Mesh);
    orient = vertcat(tgtMeshes.Orientation);
    tthPlotter.plotPlatform(pos,meshes,orient);
end

Figure contains an axes object. The axes object with xlabel X (m), ylabel Y (m) contains 4 objects of type line, text. One or more of the lines displays its values using only markers These objects represent Tracks, Truths.

Algorithms

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References

[1] Nuss, D., Reuter, S., Thom, M., Yuan, T., Krehl, G., Maile, M., Gern, A. and Dietmayer, K., 2018. A random finite set approach for dynamic occupancy grid maps with real-time application. The International Journal of Robotics Research, 37(8), pp.841-866.

[2] Steyer, Sascha, Georg Tanzmeister, and Dirk Wollherr. "Object tracking based on evidential dynamic occupancy grids in urban environments." In 2017 IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium (IV), pp. 1064-1070. IEEE, 2017.

Extended Capabilities

C/C++ Code Generation
Generate C and C++ code using MATLAB® Coder™.

Version History

Introduced in R2020b

See Also

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