Self-Protection of Ships
The security stakes are high for the sea operators. Ships remain very vulnerable at sea and even more at moorage: reduced crews, minimum vigil, and high isolation make cargos and super-yachts an easy target, especially at night. A high number of attacks are likely to come from all angles, by small wooden boats. Large volumes of attacks can be foiled by an early warning and taking preemptive action before an attack occurs.
Challenges
Some of the specific challenges of wide area surveillance in maritime environments include:
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Very wide area surveillance at sea
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Survey and automatic detection of all threats at mooring station or underway
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Detection and tracking of every boat undetectable by radars (typically wooden boats)
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Detection and tracking of approaching swimmers or man overboard
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Image stabilization
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Harsh and corrosive environment
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Vibrations
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Solar glare and wave interference
Solution
Our IRST sensors are the only thermal cameras that can provide a 360 wide field of view with very high resolution and detection range, no image distortion and no stitching. They act as optical radars but can pick up targets that radar could not detect, such as small wooden boats. The system is able to detect skiffs up to the horizon.
The IRST cameras can successfully operate at sea state level 5/6 (rough to very rough sea) thanks to an autonomous gyro-stabilized platform. In addition to mechanical stabilization, the IRST come with a sea-specific image processing stabilization algorithm. This built-in image processing allows for minimal false alarm rate and effective differentiation between distant small boats and waves.
Benefits
Environmental and Scene Analytics
Our Software has been built to learn and understand natural environmental disturbances to help eliminate unwanted false alarms. Solar glare, ocean and wave movements, wildlife and objects moving in the wind are analyzed and ignored by the intrusion detection systems.
Gyro Stabilization Platform
When installed in maritime environments, the IRST cameras are paired with a specially designed Gyro Stabilization system. This helps reduce the effects from ocean movement and ship vibrations and maintains high image quality and consistency.
