Evaluating 3D local descriptors for future LIDAR missiles with automatic target recognition capabilities

Future light detection and ranging seeker missiles incorporating 3D automatic target recognition (ATR) capabilities can improve the missile’s effectiveness in complex battlefield environments. Considering the progress of local 3D descriptors in the computer vision domain, this paper evaluates a number of these on highly credible simulated air-to-ground missile engagement scenarios. The latter take into account numerous parameters that have not been investigated yet by the literature including variable missile – target range, 6-degrees-of-freedom missile motion and atmospheric disturbances. Additionally, the evaluation process utilizes our suggested 3D ATR architecture that compared to current pipelines involves more post-processing layers aiming at further enhancing 3D ATR performance. Our trials reveal that computer vision algorithms are appealing for missile-oriented 3D ATR.