Smart Chart AIS

The ability to track small vessels is critical to national security, but not easily accomplished due to the sheer volume of craft and the range of environments which they operate within. The introduction of smart-phones with location, orientation, camera, and Internet capabilities is enabling collaborative applications that have strong locative potential. These devices are capable of acting as basic Electronic Chart Systems (ECSs), along with providing additional nautical services such as weather forecasts, electronic text chat/VOIP, and so forth. Smart Chart AIS will result in smart-phone based ECS capabilities that can be distributed for free to the small craft community. The only obligation of end users will be to register with a DHS hosted server and to enable broadcast of AIS-like data. This will enable tracking of many small craft through cloud based servers. A second level of Non-cooperative Vessel Imaging and Tracking (NVIT) is also proposed, this will process multi sensor data and generate an AIS like surrogate output. The infrastructure and capabilities of Smart Chart AIS present a strong opportunity for commercial growth. The locative and networked nature of Smart Chart AIS will enable user-specific fee-based advertising for marine and related services, along with fee-based value added capabilities.