Buoy Guard System

McQ will develop a complete conceptual design for a Buoy Guard System (BGS). This system will detect the presence of intruders at and on the buoy. It will initiate deterrent actions to persuade and force the intruders away from the buoy. It will also collect imagery and other data about the intruders and about their activities associated with the buoy. This data, along with the basic warning will be immediately sent via satellite communications to the buoy operators so that action may be taken when appropriate. Our research during Phase I will investigate a variety of basic detection modalities and select those that provide the optimal performance. These will be built upon high performance, ultra-low power systems previously developed by McQ for similar applications. We will also use advanced image processing technology developed by McQ for similar applications to capture imagery of the vandals and their activity. The information will be relayed by sitcom to buoy operators immediate for action in addition to being stored on the buoy for later retrieval. The system will be developed as a kit that can be readily installed on a variety of buoy configurations and will be completely self-contained and self-powered.