Maximum Circumnavigation Radius for a Class of Bearings-Only Target Tracking Problem

For the problem of bearings-only target tracking using circumnavigation method, to enhance the safety and stealth, the observer needs to maintain the maximum possible distance from the target. But an excessively large circumnavigation radius may lead to significant tracking error or even no solution in target localization. Under a virtual intersecting localization and tracking algorithm, the maximum circumnavigation radius is proposed for the bearings-only observer by analysing the relationship between the target position estimation error, observation error and the velocity of the observer and the target, which offers theoretical guidance for the engineering implementation of such circumnavigation tracking problem.