A Gaussian Process Convolution Particle Filter for Multiple Extended Objects Tracking with Non-Regular Shapes

Extended object tracking has become an integral part of various autonomous systems in diverse fields. Although it has been extensively studied over the past decade, many complex challenges remain in the context of extended object tracking. In this paper, a new method for tracking multiple irregularly shaped extended objects using surface measurements is proposed. The Gaussian Process Convolution Particle Filter proposed in [1], designed to track a single extended/group object, is enhanced for tracking multiple extended objects. A convolution kernel is proposed to estimate the multi-object likelihood. A target birth/death model based on the proposed method is also introduced for automatic initiation and deletion of the objects. The proposed approach is validated on real-world LiDAR data which shows that the method is efficient in tracking multiple irregularly shaped extended objects in challenging scenarios involving occlusion, dense clutter and low object detection.