AESS Presents “Track to Track Fusion Architectures” by Distinguished Lecturer Yaakov Bar-Shalom

Track to Track Fusion Architectures
Yaakov Bar-Shalom
University of Connecticut, Distinguished IEEE AESS Lecturer
Recipient of the 2008 IEEE Denis Picard Medal for Radar Technologies

Wednesday, 24 April 2013, 11:00 – 1:00
Dynetics Systems Building, 1000 Explorer Blvd, Huntsville, AL 35806
(see map at www.dynetics.com/pdf/HuntsvilleAlabama.pdf)
RSVP by noon on 22 April to charlene.neely@dynetics.com, include citizenship status
Lunch is Provided, Please bring $10 to help with Lunch Costs

Presentation Abstract
This talk discusses the issues related to information extraction and data fusion from multiple sensors. The goal of extracting the maximum possible amount of information from each sensor requires the use of appropriate sensor and target models. In these models one has to quantify the corresponding uncertainties. The fusion of the information from the various sources has to account for their uncertainties as well as the interrelationship — crosscorrelations — between the various uncertainties across sources.
The four configurations for tracking with data fusion from multiple sensors are discussed with emphasis on Configuration II — Track-to-Track Fusion (T2TF). The existence of crosscorrelation of track errors across independent sensors is brought up and its impact is evaluated. The architectures of T2TF — with and without memory, with and without feedback — are discussed in detail. The surprising impact of feedback on the simplest T2TF (without memory) is explained. Finally, recent results on T2TF from heterogeneous sensors (active and passive) are presented.

REFERENCES
Y. Bar-Shalom, P. K. Willett and X. Tian, “Tracking and Data Fusion: A Handbook of Algorithms”, YBS Publishing, 2011.
T. Yuan, Y. Bar-Shalom and X. Tian, “Heterogeneous Track-to-Track Fusion”, J. of Advances in Information Fusion, 6(2):131–149, Dec. 2011.

Speaker Bio
Yaakov Bar­Shalom was born on May 11, 1941. He received the B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, in 1963 and 1967 and the Ph.D. degree from Princeton University in 1970, all in electrical engineering. From 1970 to 1976 he was with Systems Control, Inc., Palo Alto, California. Currently he is Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor in the Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Marianne E. Klewin Professor in Engineering at the University of Connecticut. He is also Director of the ESP (Estimation and Signal Processing) Lab. His current research interests are in estimation theory, target tracking and data fusion. He has published over 400 papers and book chapters in these areas and in stochastic adaptive control. He coauthored the monograph Tracking and Data Association (Academic Press, 1988), the graduate texts Estimation and Tracking: Principles, Techniques and Software (Artech House, 1993), Estimation with Applications to Tracking and Navigation: Algorithms and Software for Information Extraction (Wiley, 2001), the advanced graduate texts Multitarget­Multisensor Tracking: Principles and Techniques (YBS Publishing, 1995), Tracking and Data Fusion (YBS Publishing, 2011), and edited the books Multitarget­Multisensor Tracking: Applications and Advances (Artech House, Vol. I, 1990; Vol. II, 1992; Vol. III, 2000).

He has been elected Fellow of IEEE for “contributions to the theory of stochastic systems and of multi­target tracking”. He has been consulting to numerous companies and government agencies, and originated the series of Multitarget­Multisensor Tracking short courses offered via UCLA Extension, at Government Laboratories, private companies and overseas. During 1976 and 1977 he served as Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control and from 1978 to 1981 as Associate Editor of Automatica. He was Program Chairman of the 1982 American Control Conference, General Chairman of the 1985 ACC, and Co­Chairman of the 1989 IEEE International Conference on Control and Applications. During 1983­87 he served as Chairman of the Conference Activities Board of the IEEE Control Systems Society and during 1987­89 was a member of the Board of Governors of the IEEE CSS. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the International Society of Information Fusion (1999–2004) and served as General Chairman of FUSION 2000, President of ISIF in 2000 and 2002 andVice President for Publications in 2004-11. In 1987 he received the IEEE CSS Distinguished Member Award. Since 1995 he is a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE AESS and has given numerous keynote addresses at major national and international conferences. He is co­recipient of the M. Barry Carlton Award for the best paper in the IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems in 1995 and 2000 and recipient of the 1998 University of Connecticut AAUP Excellence Award for Research. In 2002 he received the J. Mignona Data Fusion Award from the DoD JDL Data Fusion Group. He is a member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering. In 2008 he was awarded the IEEE Dennis J. Picard Medal for Radar Technologies and Applications, and in 2012 the Connecticut Medal of Technology. He has been listed by academic.research.microsoft (top authors in engineering) as #1 among the researchers in Aerospace Engineering based on the citations of his work.

IEEE GOLD Lunch and Learn (A talk on Early Career Advice)

IEEE GOLD presents a talk on Early Career Advice presented by Dr. Brent Romine, president of nou Systems, Inc.  The talk is Monday, March 18th at the Dynetics Solutions Complex on 1004 Explorer Blvd. Free Lunch will be provided beginning at 11:30, the talk will begin at 11:45.  I need a head count to know how much food to provide, so please RSVP to phillip.henson.gold@gmail.com, by March 11th (The sooner the better).
Dr. Brent Romine, President of nou Systems, Inc., began researching defense systems and applying technology to solve defense-related problems eighteen years ago in graduate school at Georgia Tech, where he received a PhD in Electrical Engineering.  For over sixteen years, Brent was employed by MIT Lincoln Laboratory (MIT/LL), a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) that applies advanced technology to problems of national security.  During this tenure at MIT/LL, Brent rose from the ranks of the Technical Staff to the position of Assistant Head of the Air and Missile Defense Division where he oversaw over 450 people executing an annual research and development portfolio of approximately $120M.  During his career, Brent has demonstrated the ability to develop, organize, cultivate and lead teams as they tackle technical problems.  He has substantial experience designing, planning and executing complex flight and ground tests and is an acknowledged Ballistic Missile Defense System and associated sensor technology subject matter expert.

Event flyer at IEEE_GOLD_Early_Career_Flyer

2013-2014 IEEE-USA Government Fellowships

Each year, IEEE-USA sponsors three qualified IEEE members to serve as government fellows: one Engineering & Diplomacy Fellow and two Congressional fellows.  The fellows spend a year in Washington – from September to August each year – serving as advisers to the U.S. Congress or key U.S. Department of State decision-makers.  IEEE-USA’s Government Fellowships link engineers with government, providing a mechanism for IEEE-USA members to learn firsthand about the public policy process through personal involvement.

The congressional fellowship consists of an appointment to the personal staff of a U.S. Senator or Congressman, or to the professional staff of a Congressional Committee. For an application Kit for the 2013-2014 Congressional Fellowship Program, visit:  http://ieeeusa.org/policy/govfel/congfel.asp

The State Department fellowship offers an opportunity for an engineer to provide technical expertise to the State Department, and help raise awareness of the value of engineering input while learning about and contributing to the foreign policy process. For an application Kit for the 2013-2014 Engineering & Diplomacy (State Department) Fellowship Program, visit: http://ieeeusa.org/policy/govfel/state.asp

The postmark application deadline for 2013-2014 Fellowships is 8 February 2013. For more information, visit: http://ieeeusa.org/policy/govfel/congfel.asp

IEEE GOLD Facebook Page

Huntsville IEEE Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD) now has a Facebook page!! Over the next few weeks the page will be updated and events for the coming months will be planned. Please go by and like the page, as well as send your friends to it as well.

GOLD Beer Tour

Beer Tour! Free GOLD event on November 17, at 2pm. We’re touring the Straight to Ale Brewery. Meet us out front, learn about the beers. including a free tasting after the tour. Please Contact me at phillip.henson@ieee.org if you are planning on going. I ave to give them a number for the tour. Hope to see you there!