Robust estimation using context-aware filtering

This paper presents the context-aware filter, an estimation technique that incorporates context measurements, in addition to the regular continuous measurements. Context measurements provide binary information about the system´s context which is not directly encoded in the state; examples include a robot detecting a nearby building using image processing or a medical device alarming that a vital sign has exceeded a predefined threshold. These measurements can only be received from certain states and can therefore be modeled as a function of the system´s current state. We focus on two classes of functions describing the probability of context detection given the current state; these functions capture a wide variety of detections that may occur in practice. We derive the corresponding context-aware filters, a Gaussian Mixture filter and another closed-form filter with a posterior distribution whose moments are derived in the paper. Finally, we evaluate the performance of both classes of functions through simulation of an unmanned ground vehicle.