The automatic management of multi-sensor systems

A mathematical formulation of the multi-sensor management problem is introduced. The multi-sensor fusion management (MSFM) algorithm is described which positions multiple sensors in order to maximise the fused probability of target detection using information obtained from previous detections. The optimisation is carried out on the multi-sensor system as a whole rather than on the individual sensors. In this initial study each sensor is modelled as being able to provide a binary decision on target detections - no range or bearing information is supplied by the sensors. The fusion process uses a simple decision threshold rule. The approach is illustrated by finding optimum sensor arrangements for static target distributions. The algorithm is also used iteratively to locate a moving target. Experimental results are detailed comparing the MSFM algorithm with a baseline sensor management method. The MSFM algorithm is shown to almost halve the number of sensor deployments with less than 1% failure rate. It therefore offers advantages which are both statistically significant and operationally dramatic.