Abstract: A system and method for detecting breaklock for correlation trackers. The inventive system includes a first circuit (50) for computing energy EL in a residual image, a second circuit (52) for computing energy EI in an input image, and a third circuit (54) for computing a residual metric RL based on the residual image energy EL scaled by the input image energy EI. In the illustrative embodiment, the system further includes a fourth circuit (56) for comparing the residual metric RL to a threshold TR, and a fifth circuit (58) for setting a breaklock signal based on the output of the fourth circuit (56).

Abstract: In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a system for tracking a target is provided that includes an image sensor mounted to a gimbal for acquiring an image, wherein the image includes a plurality of pixels representing the target and a background. The system further includes a motor for rotating the gimbal and an autotracker electrically coupled to the image sensor and the motor. The autotracker includes a probability map generator for computing a probability that each of the plurality of pixels having a particular intensity is either a portion of the target or a portion of the background, a pixel processor in communicative relation with the probability map generator for calculating a centroid of the target based upon the probabilities computed by the probability map generator, and a controller in communicative relation with the pixel processor for generating commands to the motor based upon the centroid.

Abstract: A system and method for detecting breaklock for correlation trackers. The inventive system includes a first circuit (50) for computing energy EL in a residual image, a second circuit (52) for computing energy EI in an input image, and a third circuit (54) for computing a residual metric RL based on the residual image energy EL scaled by the input image energy EI. In the illustrative embodiment, the system further includes a fourth circuit (56) for comparing the residual metric RL to a threshold TR, and a fifth circuit (58) for setting a breaklock signal based on the output of the fourth circuit (56).

Abstract: In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a system for tracking a target is provided that includes an image sensor mounted to a gimbal for acquiring an image, wherein the image includes a plurality of pixels representing the target and a background. The system further includes a motor for rotating the gimbal and an autotracker electrically coupled to the image sensor and the motor. The autotracker includes a probability map generator for computing a probability that each of the plurality of pixels having a particular intensity is either a portion of the target or a portion of the background, a pixel processor in communicative relation with the probability map generator for calculating a centroid of the target based upon the probabilities computed by the probability map generator, and a controller in communicative relation with the pixel processor for generating commands to the motor based upon the centroid.