Vision-based target tracking is crucial for unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) to perform tasks such as inspection, monitoring, and surveillance. However, real-time tracking in complex maritime environments is challenging due to dynamic camera movement, low visibility, and scale variation. Typically, object detection methods combined with filtering techniques are commonly used for tracking, but they often lack robustness, particularly in the presence of camera motion and missed detections. Although advanced tracking methods have been proposed recently, their application in maritime scenarios is limited. To address this gap, this study proposes a vision-guided object-tracking framework for USVs, integrating state-of-the-art tracking algorithms with low-level control systems to enable precise tracking in dynamic maritime environments. We benchmarked the performance of seven distinct trackers, developed using advanced deep learning techniques such as Siamese Networks and Transformers, by evaluating them on both simulated and real-world maritime datasets. In addition, we evaluated the robustness of various control algorithms in conjunction with these tracking systems. The proposed framework was validated through simulations and real-world sea experiments, demonstrating its effectiveness in handling dynamic maritime conditions. The results show that SeqTrack, a Transformer-based tracker, performed best in adverse conditions, such as dust storms. Among the control algorithms evaluated, the linear quadratic regulator controller (LQR) demonstrated the most robust and smooth control, allowing for stable tracking of the USV.

翻译：视觉目标跟踪对于无人水面艇执行巡检、监测与监视等任务至关重要。然而，在复杂海洋环境中实现实时跟踪面临动态相机运动、低能见度及尺度变化等挑战。通常采用目标检测方法结合滤波技术进行跟踪，但此类方法往往缺乏鲁棒性，尤其在相机运动和漏检情况下表现不佳。尽管近期已有先进跟踪方法被提出，但其在海洋场景中的应用仍有限。为填补这一空白，本研究提出一种面向无人艇的视觉引导目标跟踪框架，将前沿跟踪算法与底层控制系统相集成，以实现动态海洋环境下的精确跟踪。我们基于模拟和真实海洋数据集，对七种采用先进深度学习技术（如孪生网络和Transformer）开发的跟踪器进行了性能基准测试。此外，我们还评估了多种控制算法与这些跟踪系统结合的鲁棒性。通过仿真和真实海上实验验证了所提框架的有效性，证明其能够有效应对动态海洋条件。结果表明，基于Transformer的跟踪器SeqTrack在沙尘暴等恶劣条件下表现最佳。在评估的控制算法中，线性二次调节器控制器展现出最鲁棒平滑的控制性能，可实现无人艇的稳定跟踪。