## 1 Introduction
### Applications of Visual Target Tracking for Autonomous Vehicles Navigation  
The moving target's position and velocity information can aid the autonomous vehicle to determine what constitutes its surroundings and what actions if necessary are to be taken. The potential applications of such visual target tracking systems are: autonomous vehicle navigation, map building, robot localization, path planning, obstacle avoidance, surveillance systems, intelligent transportation systems and human assistance mobile robots and so on [4]. In the intelligent transportation systems (Figure 1), the extraction and tracking of objects of interest are the necessary prerequisites for the development of intelligent autonomous vehicles or mobile robots. In the case of forward collision avoidance, visual moving objects tracking helps to distinguish the potential collision threats in terms of their relevance to the intended path of the vehicle [10]. Apart from such applications visual target tracking can also provide assistance to human drivers. One such application can be in drowsy driver warning systems. The knowledge of moving objects around the vehicle enables a driver assistant system to alert a driver of potential collisions and dangers [10]. Other applications in the intelligent transportation systems can be the design of an optimal trajectory for one vehicle under normal conditions, in order to overtake a single, slower-moving vehicle on a predetermined road [11]. Figure 1: Some applications of the visual target tracking system for autonomous vehicles navigation. (a) shows the general high way system (the image taken from [[http://www.tfhrc.gov/humanfac/presentation/](http://www.tfhrc.gov/humanfac/presentation/)]([http://www.tfhrc.gov/humanfac/presentation/](http://www.tfhrc.gov/humanfac/presentation/))). The visual target tracking based intelligent transportation system can be developed for road safety, vehicle avoidances and so on. (b) shows the mobile robots soccer (the image taken from the web site of Automation Laboratory at University of Mannheim). (c) shows the human assistance mobile robots (the image taken from the proceedings cover of IEEE ICRA 2005). The visual target tracking can help autonomous vehicles (mobile robots) to fulfill the tasks in all these applications. Path planing for autonomous vehicles is to plan in real time a collision-free path in the presence of dynamically moving objects and with a limited sensing range [12]. Path planning is a fundamentally important issue in robotics, which also requires the autonomous vehicle to be aware of the objects in the environment. Complete coverage path planning (CCPP, which is also called region filling or area covering) of cleaning robots is a special type application of path planning in a two-dimensional (\(2D\)) environment. Here visual target tracking can help the autonomous vehicle pass through every area in the workspace and avoid obstacles [13]. Patent [14] explains an arrangement for obstacle detection in autonomous vehicles wherein two significant data manipulations are employed in order to provide a more accurate read of potential obstacles and thus contribute to more efficient and effective operation of an autonomous vehicle; in Patent [15] a mobile robot is equipped with a range finder and a stereo vision system. The mobile robot is capable of autonomously navigating through urban terrain, generating a map based on data from the range finder and transmitting the map to the operator, as part of several reconnaissance operations selectable by the operator. There are other applications where visual target tracking systems are used such as in the human assistance mobile robotics (Figure 1). Mobile robots equipped with mechanisms for communication, interaction, and behaviors are employed more and more outside traditional manufacturing applications, such as in museums or exposition areas [16, 17]. In order to operate mobile robots in the same environment as a human, obstacle avoidance techniques in a dynamic environment are required.