539 research outputs found
Hierarchical Disentanglement-Alignment Network for Robust SAR Vehicle Recognition
Vehicle recognition is a fundamental problem in SAR image interpretation.
However, robustly recognizing vehicle targets is a challenging task in SAR due
to the large intraclass variations and small interclass variations.
Additionally, the lack of large datasets further complicates the task. Inspired
by the analysis of target signature variations and deep learning
explainability, this paper proposes a novel domain alignment framework named
the Hierarchical Disentanglement-Alignment Network (HDANet) to achieve
robustness under various operating conditions. Concisely, HDANet integrates
feature disentanglement and alignment into a unified framework with three
modules: domain data generation, multitask-assisted mask disentanglement, and
domain alignment of target features. The first module generates diverse data
for alignment, and three simple but effective data augmentation methods are
designed to simulate target signature variations. The second module
disentangles the target features from background clutter using the
multitask-assisted mask to prevent clutter from interfering with subsequent
alignment. The third module employs a contrastive loss for domain alignment to
extract robust target features from generated diverse data and disentangled
features. Lastly, the proposed method demonstrates impressive robustness across
nine operating conditions in the MSTAR dataset, and extensive qualitative and
quantitative analyses validate the effectiveness of our framework
Classification of Radar Targets Using Invariant Features
Automatic target recognition ATR using radar commonly relies on modeling a target as a collection of point scattering centers, Features extracted from these scattering centers for input to a target classifier may be constructed that are invariant to translation and rotation, i.e., they are independent of the position and aspect angle of the target in the radar scene. Here an iterative approach for building effective scattering center models is developed, and the shape space of these models is investigated. Experimental results are obtained for three-dimensional scattering centers compressed to nineteen-dimensional feature sets, each consisting of the singular values of the matrix of scattering center locations augmented with the singular values of its second and third order monomial expansions. These feature sets are invariant to translation and rotation and permit the comparison of targets modeled by different numbers of scattering centers. A metric distance metric is used that effectively identifies targets under real world conditions that include noise and obscuration
Recommended from our members
SAR object classification using the DAE with a modified triplet restriction
Recommended from our members
Local feature based automatic target recognition for future 3D active homing seeker missiles
We propose an architecture appropriate for future Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) active homing seeker missiles with Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) capabilities. Our proposal enhances military targeting performance by extending ATR into the 3rd dimension. From a military and aerospace industry point of view, this is appealing as weapon effectiveness against camouflage, concealment and deception techniques can be substantially improved.
Specifically, we present a missile seeker 3D ATR architecture that relies on the 3D local feature based SHOT descriptor and a dual-role pipeline with a number of pre and post-processing operations. We evaluate our architecture on a number of missile engagement scenarios in various environmental setups with the missile being under various altitudes, obliquities, distances to the target and scene resolutions. Under these demanding conditions, the recognition performance gained is highly promising. Even in the extreme case of reducing the database entries to a single template per target, our interchangeable ATR architecture still provides a highly acceptable performance.
Although we focus on future intelligent missile systems, our approach can be implemented to a great range of time-critical complex systems for space, air and ground environments for military, law-enforcement, commercial and research purposes
Civilian Target Recognition using Hierarchical Fusion
The growth of computer vision technology has been marked by attempts to imitate human behavior to impart robustness and confidence to the decision making process of automated systems. Examples of disciplines in computer vision that have been targets of such efforts are Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) and fusion. ATR is the process of aided or unaided target detection and recognition using data from different sensors. Usually, it is synonymous with its military application of recognizing battlefield targets using imaging sensors. Fusion is the process of integrating information from different sources at the data or decision levels so as to provide a single robust decision as opposed to multiple individual results. This thesis combines these two research areas to provide improved classification accuracy in recognizing civilian targets. The results obtained reaffirm that fusion techniques tend to improve the recognition rates of ATR systems.
Previous work in ATR has mainly dealt with military targets and single level of data fusion. Expensive sensors and time-consuming algorithms are generally used to improve system performance. In this thesis, civilian target recognition, which is considered to be harder than military target recognition, is performed. Inexpensive sensors are used to keep the system cost low. In order to compensate for the reduced system ability, fusion is performed at two different levels of the ATR system { event level and sensor level. Only preliminary image processing and pattern recognition techniques have been used so as to maintain low operation times. High classification rates are obtained using data fusion techniques alone. Another contribution of this thesis is the provision of a single framework to perform all operations from target data acquisition to the final decision making.
The Sensor Fusion Testbed (SFTB) designed by Northrop Grumman Systems has been used by the Night Vision & Electronic Sensors Directorate to obtain images of seven different types of civilian targets. Image segmentation is performed using background subtraction. The seven invariant moments are extracted from the segmented image and basic classification is performed using k Nearest Neighbor method. Cross-validation is used to provide a better idea of the classification ability of the system. Temporal fusion at the event level is performed using majority voting and sensor level fusion is done using Behavior-Knowledge Space method.
Two separate databases were used. The first database uses seven targets (2 cars, 2 SUVs, 2 trucks and 1 stake body light truck). Individual frame, temporal fusion and BKS fusion results are around 65%, 70% and 77% respectively. The second database has three targets (cars, SUVs and trucks) formed by combining classes from the first database. Higher classification accuracies are observed here. 75%, 90% and 95% recognition rates are obtained at frame, event and sensor levels. It can be seen that, on an average, recognition accuracy improves with increasing levels of fusion. Also, distance-based classification was performed to
study the variation of system performance with the distance of the target from the cameras. The results are along expected lines and indicate the efficacy of fusion techniques for the ATR problem. Future work using more complex image processing and pattern recognition routines can further improve the classification performance of the system. The SFTB can be equipped with these algorithms and field-tested to check real-time performance
Target Detection Using a Wavelet-Based Fractal Scheme
In this thesis, a target detection technique using a rotational invariant wavelet-based scheme is presented. The technique is evaluated on Synthetic Aperture Rader (SAR) imaging and compared with a previously developed fractal-based technique, namely the extended fractal (EF) model. Both techniques attempt to exploit the textural characteristics of SAR imagery. Recently, a wavelet-based fractal feature set, similar to the proposed one, was compared with the EF feature for a general texture classification problem. The wavelet-based technique yielded a lower classification error than EF, which motivated the comparison between the two techniques presented in this paper. Experimental results show that the proposed techniques feature map provides a lower false alarm rate than the previously developed method
Automatic target recognition in sonar imagery using a cascade of boosted classifiers
This thesis is concerned with the problem of automating the interpretation of data representing
the underwater environment retrieved from sensors. This is an important task
which potentially allows underwater robots to become completely autonomous, keeping
humans out of harm’s way and reducing the operational time and cost of many
underwater applications. Typical applications include unexploded ordnance clearance,
ship/plane wreck hunting (e.g. Malaysia Airlines flight MH370), and oilfield inspection
(e.g. Deepwater Horizon disaster).
Two attributes of the processing are crucial if automated interpretation is to be successful.
First, computational efficiency is required to allow real-time analysis to be
performed on-board robots with limited resources. Second, detection accuracy comparable
to human experts is required in order to replace them. Approaches in the open
literature do not appear capable of achieving these requirements and this therefore has
become the objective of this thesis.
This thesis proposes a novel approach capable of recognizing targets in sonar data
extremely rapidly with a low number of false alarms. The approach was originally
developed for face detection in video, and it is applied to sonar data here for the first
time. Aside from the application, the main contribution of this thesis, therefore, is in
the way this approach is extended to reduce its training time and improve its detection
accuracy.
Results obtained on large sets of real sonar data on a variety of challenging terrains
are presented to show the discriminative power of the proposed approach. In real field
trials, the proposed approach was capable of processing sonar data real-time on-board
underwater robots. In direct comparison with human experts, the proposed approach
offers 40% reduction in the number of false alarms
- …