Intelligent mobile surveillance towers use AI, sensors to reduce workload for border and antiterrorism agents
NewsAugust 31, 2020
FORT WORTH. Elbit Systems of America is supplying two variants of its intelligent and autonomous trailer-mounted surveillance tower systems -- aimed at reducing operator workload and increasing situational awareness and safety -- to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP) and the U.S. Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office (CTTSO).
According to information from the company, the trailer-mounted system that the CBP chose is a relocatable 80-foot tower system that uses integrated, advanced surveillance sensors, including electro-optical and infrared cameras and ground surveillance radars that send imagery and location data to the users' command-and-control centers and to agents in the field.
For the CTTSO deployment, the Autonomous Relocatable Surveillance Tower system uses artificial intelligence/computer vision to automatically maintain situational awareness by autonomously detecting, tracking, and identifying items of interest and then sending the information to command and control centers without operator intervention. The long-range sensor payload on this tower system consists of a ground surveillance radar, a high-resolution day camera, a thermal camera, and a laser illuminator, along with enclosures for the electronics, security features, and a power generator.