Estimating the parameters of an ellipse when angular differences are known (Q1979104)

The ellipse curve model \[ x(t)=a+p\cos(t+\alpha),\quad y(t)=b+q\sin(t+\alpha), \] is fitted to data \((x_i,y_i,t_i)\), \(i=1,\dots,n>5\), via the least squares method. An algorithm which uses analytical reduction of the problem and iterative methods are described. The problem of ellipses in general position (rotated by an unknown angle) is also considered. Some numerical results are presented.