Extended Target Tracking Using Gaussian Processes with High-Resolution Automotive Radar

In this paper, an implementation of an extended target tracking filter using measurements from high-resolution automotive Radio Detection and Ranging (RADAR) is proposed. Our algorithm uses the Cartesian point measurements from the target's contour as well as the Doppler range rate provided by the RADAR to track a target vehicle's position, orientation, and translational and rotational velocities. We also apply a Gaussian Process (GP) to model the vehicle's shape. To cope with the nonlinear measurement equation, we implement an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) and provide the necessary derivatives for the Doppler measurement. We then evaluate the effectiveness of incorporating the Doppler rate on simulations and on 2 sets of real data.