A Novel Video-based Adaptive Intelligent Hemispherical Threat Detection System

Remotely Operated Weapon Systems (ROWS) keep soldiers away from hostile situations while they take on the enemy and thus dramatically enhance the weapon lethality and increase soldier"s survivability. However, in existing fielded ROWS operators watch an area through a flat-screen monitor that covers a too small field-of-view (FOV) to provide a complete picture of"what"s going on outside". Currently available wide area threat detection capabilities fall short of providing robust and continuous threat awareness. To support ARMY's vision for smart situation awareness in ROWS, UtopiaCompression (UC) proposes to develop a novel threat detection system based on an in-house hemispherical camera system and a novel video-based adaptive intelligent threat detection software. The hemispherical camera system will provide the full coverage of a hemispherical (360o180o) field of view (FOV) at high image resolution. The software component will provide real-time target detection and threat detection capabilities. The system can provide variable acuity of target resolution depending on threat level or user request. The outputs from the system will alert the remote operator on unusual events that need his response. The proposed technology is capable of providing wide area threat detection in complex and cluttered battlefield environments.