Pose-Independent Automatic Target Detection and Recognition using 3-D Ladar Data

摘要

We present a pose-independent Automatic Target Detection and Recognition (ATD/R) System using data from an airborne 3D imaging ladar sensor. The ATD/R system uses geometric shape and size signatures from target models to detect and recognize targets under heavy canopy and camouflage cover in extended terrain scenes. A method for data integration was developed to register multiple scene views to obtain a more complete 3-D surface signature of a target. Automatic target detection was performed using the general approach of "3-D cueing," which determines and ranks regions of interest within a large-scale scene based on the likelihood that they contain the respective target. Each region of interest is further analyzed to accurately identify the target from among a library of 10 candidate target objects. The system performance was demonstrated on five extended terrain scenes with targets both out in the open and under heavy canopy cover, where the target occupied 1 to 5% of the scene by volume. Automatic target recognition was successfully demonstrated for 20 measured data scenes including ground vehicle targets both out in the open and under heavy canopy and/or camouflage cover, where the target occupied between 5 to 10% of the scene by volume. Correct target identification was also demonstrated for targets with multiple movable parts that are in arbitrary orientations. We achieved a high recognition rate (over 99%) along with a low false alarm rate (less than 0.01%) Immediate benefits of the presented work will be to the area of Automatic Target Recognition of military ground vehicles, where the vehicles of interest may include articulated components with variable position relative to the body, and come in many possible configurations. Other application areas include human detection and recognition for Homeland Security, and registration of large or extended terrain scenes.