Search when False Contacts are Generated by Real Objects
Abstract
A theory of search in the presence of false contacts that are generated by real objects was developed in another report by Stone and Stanshine. Although they assume that false targets will be marked, when found, so that they will not be investigated again should they be contacted again, no use is made of the known number of found false targets. The search plans that they obtain with their expected-value model are not optimal when all available information is used. The paper formulates the search problem, assuming that the information on the number and location of found false targets is available and will be used to the maximum extent possible. The author shows that the resulting formulation differs significantly from that of Stone and Stanshine. The optimization problem is more difficult. The solution is outlined for the case in which the number n of false targets is known or has a known finite distribution. An example with n = 1 is solved completely. The problem has not been solved for distributions that are not finite, such as the Poisson distribution.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1971
- Accession Number
- AD0888668
Entities
People
- James M. Dobbie
Organizations
- Arthur D. Little