Auditory Devices for Remote Threat Detection

This SBIR is concerned with using remote sensors to enhance the performance of security forces protecting Air Force facilities. The use of remote sensing systems for area surveillance can greatly complement the performance of human sentries. Current remotesystems rely primarily on video and infrared sensors. The specific weaknesses of these systems include high false alarm rates, limited detection ranges,and a lack of automatic threat localization and tracking capabilities. This SBIR addresses theseproblems by incorporating an acoustic sensing capability into these systems, with the objective of utilizing the information from the additional sensor to improve detection performance and contribute to the reduction of false alarms. In particular, theDSR/TecFocus approach offers the combination of two forms of acoustic processing. The Phase I project demonstrated that the innovative concepts proposed were viable. The thrust of this Phase II proposal is to develop and demonstrate the performance thatcan be provided by using acoustic sensors as part of an area surveillance system. This development will provide significant improvements in the detection and localization of stealthy intruders, provide a dramatic reduction in the number of false alarms,and provide security forces with a virtual presence in the field.