Spawning Poisson Multi-Bernoulli Mixture Filter for Multi-Extended Object Tracking Using Dynamic Hybrid Detection

The Poisson multi-Bernoulli mixture (PMBM) filter is an effective approach for multi-object tracking in complex scenarios. However, its performance deteriorates when surviving objects spawn, as the PMBM filter only classifies detected objects as either new-born or surviving, thereby ignoring information from the surviving objects and preventing timely identification of spawning events. To address this limitation, this paper proposes the Dynamic Hybrid Detection-Gamma Gaussian inverse Wishart Spawning Poisson multi-Bernoulli mixture (DHD-GGIW-SPMBM) filter, which models spawning objects independently using a Bernoulli process to enhance tracking accuracy. The probability generating functional is employed to derive the recursive prediction and update equations of the proposed filter, and its conjugacy after prediction and update is formally proven. Additionally, a dynamic hybrid detection method is introduced to evaluate the consistency between measurements and theoretical samples, enabling the detection of spawning events. The detection results guide an evidential Gaussian mixture model (EGMM) for fuzzy partitioning of the spawning process, reducing errors under closely spaced and high-clutter conditions. Simulation results demonstrate that, compared with existing spawning-capable filters, the proposed DHD-GGIW-SPMBM filter achieves superior tracking performance, faster identification of spawned objects, and robust operation in complex scenarios.