{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,22]],"date-time":"2025-10-22T18:04:25Z","timestamp":1761156265500,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":18,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,2,27]],"date-time":"2017-02-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1488153600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Opening Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Virtual Reality Technology and Systems of China","award":["BUAA-VR-15KF-11"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BUAA-VR-15KF-11"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Recent advances in computer science and electronics have greatly expanded the capabilities of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in both defense and civil applications, such as moving ground object tracking. Due to the uncertainties of the application environments and objects\u2019 motion, it is difficult to maintain the tracked object always within the sensor coverage area by using a single UAV. Hence, it is necessary to deploy a group of UAVs to improve the robustness of the tracking. This paper investigates the problem of tracking ground moving objects with a group of UAVs using gimbaled sensors under flight dynamic and collision-free constraints. The optimal cooperative tracking path planning problem is solved using an evolutionary optimization technique based on the framework of chemical reaction optimization (CRO). The efficiency of the proposed method was demonstrated through a series of comparative simulations. The results show that the cooperative tracking paths determined by the newly developed method allows for longer sensor coverage time under flight dynamic restrictions and safety conditions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s17030472","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,2,27]],"date-time":"2017-02-27T11:00:20Z","timestamp":1488193220000},"page":"472","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Coordinated Target Tracking via a Hybrid Optimization Approach"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Yin","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Virtual Reality Technology and Systems, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China"},{"name":"College of Astronautics, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yan","family":"Cao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Astronautics, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,2,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.14323\/ijuseng.2014.8","article-title":"Model Predictive Lateral Control of a UAV Formation Using a Virtual Structure Approach","volume":"2","author":"Horri","year":"2014","journal-title":"Int. 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