Robust extended Kalman filter with input estimation for maneuver tracking

This study investigates the problem of tracking a satellite performing unknown continuous maneuvers. A new method is proposed for estimating both the state and maneuver acceleration of the satellite. The estimation of the maneuver acceleration is obtained by the combination of an unbiased minimum-variance input and state estimation method and a low-pass filter. Then a threshold-based maneuver detection approach is developed to determinate the start and end time of the unknown maneuvers. During the maneuvering period, the estimation error of the maneuver acceleration is modeled as the sum of a fluctuation error and a sudden change error. A robust extended Kalman filter is developed for dealing with the acceleration estimate error and providing state estimation. Simulation results show that, compared with the Unbiased Minimum-variance Input and State Estimation (UMISE) method, the proposed method has the same position estimation accuracy, and the velocity estimation error is reduced by about 5 times during the maneuver period. Besides, the acceleration detection and estimation accuracy of the proposed method is much higher than that of the UMISE method.