LinkNotes: surveillance

Showing posts with label surveillance. Show all posts

2011-10-25

Rotundus' GroundBot a Spherical Surveillance Robot

Source: Documentary made by Discovery Channel about Rotundus GroundBot. - YouTube

BLDGBLOG: Eye Roller

The GroundBot system by Swedish firm Rotundus is a remote-controlled, all-weather polycarbonate sphere that "can trundle through snow, mud and sand as it supplies a live feed via a pair of cameras," Wired UK explains. "Its operator sees the image in 3D on a screen."

Source: BLDGBLOG: Eye Roller

Security rolls out thanks to the Rotundus GroundBot (Wired UK)

The GroundBot is steered via a pendulum housed inside a hollow sphere, which swings outwards on its axle, pushing the robot in the desired direction. A cluster of accelerometers, gyros, GPS and a magnetometer keeps the GroundBot on track as it rolls along at speeds of up to 10kph. But this isn't just a moving camera. "Future developments include the GroundBot recognizing objects and reporting obstacles it encounters to an operator," says Rotundus CEO Johan Bäcke.

The GroundBot is undergoing trials with Saab and the Swedish Defence Forces; if successful, it could be, um, rolled out and put to use in airports and other locations in need of surveillance. And then the snoozing security guard might be consigned to history.

Source: Security rolls out thanks to the Rotundus GroundBot (Wired UK)

Rotundus

What are the advantages?

• Weighing just 25 kg, GroundBot™ won’t get stuck in sand, mud or snow.

• All cameras/sensors and mechanics are protected inside the sealed sphere.

• GroundBot™ is efficient and can run up to 10 km/h (6 mph) - without making a sound.

• GroundBot™ can operate for 8-16 hours depending on mission profile

Read more

Where can GroundBot™ be used?

GroundBot™ helps increase security and cuts costs at places such as –

• Airports
• Harbors
• Power plants
• Warehouses
• Perimeter protection
• Border security

Read more

Source: Rotundus

Source: Rotundus GroundBot - YouTube

Related

2009-10-12

Researchers See Through Walls With Wi-Fi Network

Clipped from: Wireless Network Signals Produce See-Through Walls | Threat Level | Wired.com

Wireless Network Signals Produce See-Through Walls

Researchers at the University of Utah have found a way to see through walls to detect movement inside a building.

The surveillance technique is called variance-based radio tomographic imaging and works by visualizing variations in radio waves as they travel to nodes in a wireless network. A person moving inside a building will cause the waves to vary in that location, the researchers found, allowing an observer to map their position.

Clipped from: Technology Review: Blogs: arXiv blog: Wireless Network Modded to See Through Walls

Wireless Network Modded to See Through Walls

The way signal strength varies in a wireless network can reveal what's going on behind closed doors.

The basic idea is straightforward. The signal strength at any point in a network is the sum of all the paths the radio waves can take to get to the receiver. Any change in the volume of space through which the signals pass, for example caused by the movement of a person, makes the signal strength vary. So by "interrogating" this volume of space with many signals, picked up by multiple receivers, it is possible to build up a picture of the movement within it.

Clipped from: Radio Tomographic Imaging | SPAN

Sensing and Processing Across Networks at Utah

Radio Tomographic Imaging

Radio Tomographic Imaging (RTI) is an emerging technology that locates moving objects in areas surrounded by simple and inexpensive radios. RTI is useful in emergencies, rescue operations, and security breaches, since the objects being tracked need not carry an electronic device. Tracking humans moving through a building, for example, could help firefighters save lives by locating victims quickly.
[....]
The following video is an RTI experiment conducted by Joey Wilson and Neal Patwari at the Warnock Engineering Building at the University of Utah. The attenuation image is shown above the actual footage, with the red spots indicating heaviest attenuation.

Clipped from: Radio Waves 'See' through Walls - University of Utah News Release: October 11th, 2009

On the left, a person walks around inside a square of 28 radio transceivers (mounted on plastic pipes) in the Warnock Engineering Building's atrium at the University of Utah. The person creates "shadows" in the radio waves, resulting in the image displayed on right, in which the person appears as a reddish-orange-yellow blob. University of Utah engineers also showed this method can "see" through walls to make blurry images of people moving behind the walls. They hope the technique will help police, firefighters and other emergency responders apprehend burglars and rescue hostages, fire victims and others.

University of Utah electrical engineer Neal Patwari walks around inside a square grid of radio transceivers (mounted on plastic pipes) during a test of a radio tomographic imaging (RTI) system that uses radio waves to "see," locate and track a moving person -- even a person moving behind a solid wall.

Sources:

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2009-03-30

ISIS Airship -- Eye in the Sky

clipped from www.latimes.com

Pentagon plans blimp to spy from new heights

The giant dirigible would use radar to closely and constantly monitor activity on the ground from 65,000 feet.

clipped from www.latimes.com

clipped from www.darpa.mil

Space, Near-Space and Airborne Sensors and Structures

clipped from www.darpa.mil

Integrated Sensor is Structure (ISIS)

The goal of the ISIS program is to develop a stratospheric airship based autonomous unmanned sensor with years of persistence in surveillance and tracking of air and ground targets. It will have the capability to track the most advanced cruise missiles at 600 km and dismounted enemy combatants at 300 km.

ISIS Program Overview Briefing
Updated 3/5/09 (.pdf, 960KB)

clipped from www.gizmag.com

US$10 million skin for DARPA's remarkable ISIS stratospheric airship

clipped from www.gizmag.com

2008-03-24

RFID chips used for clandestine surveillance

Radio Frequency Identification of objects is possible not only by the well known RDIF tags:

but also by minuscule chips as shown below.

Digital Journal - World's smallest and thinnest RFID tag is powder made by Hitachi

Among the many applications of this technology there is also clandestine surveillance by tracking of property and people:

Nox Defense has released an invisible perimeter defense technology, which combines high-resolution video pictures and radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, sometimes referred to as "spy chips", to track assets and people in real time. The system tracks people without their knowledge and allows security officers to see a theft as it happens, even if concealed inside a briefcase, under a jacket, or stuffed inside a sock. The FBI is among early adopters of the Nox Intelligent Perimeter Defense system, though has not released details how it will use the system.
www.rfidwizards.com - Spy Dust Catches Thieves: FBI Says "No Comment"

The RFID readers can be hidden in an office building or warehouse, and the RFID tags can be placed on company products or property -- even on employee name tags or ID badges.
They can be scattered on a floor, so when someone walks through a room, entryway or warehouse, the tags will stick to their shoes or pants cuffs. When they walk past an RFID reader, it will be able to tell where they've been.
[...] someone from airport security could drop a tiny RFID tag into someone's bag or attach it to the bag. "I can't carry around something really obvious to mark the bag, but I can drop a tiny tag into the bag and then we'll be able to see where it goes,"
RFID tech turned into spy chips for clandestine surveillance

A system with a combination of RFID and High Resolution Video Surveillance Cameras is described Industrywizards.com:

The system uses video surveillance cameras mounted in obvious locations and others that are hidden. [...] A tag read in a particular location automatically triggers video recording and sends an instant alert to the security personnel’s mobile devices. [...] a single screen shot of the NOX Operations Center (below).

www.rfidwizards.com - New RFID Technology Allows You to be Tracked WITHOUT Your Knowledge

2008-03-14

High-tech security gadget expo

An exhibition showcasing the latest high-tech security and surveillance devices is underway in Tokyo.

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