Unattended Ground Sensors (UGS) are valuable tools for the U.S. military and border patrol, however, their utility is
often limited due to their cost, size, and weight. Recently specific advances in micro power electronics, transducers,
packaging, and signal processing techniques have enabled the development of a small, lightweight, and affordable UGS.
Originally intended for small unit clearing/monitoring operations, a sensor has evolved to achieve detection
performance comparable to state-of-the-art UGS. To meet a broader mission capability, battery life and detection
capabilities have been extended and affordable networked cameras and repeaters have been developed. This paper will
provide an overview of the key enabling technologies for affordable UGS, provide an overview and enhancements of
this affordable UGS system, and review results of system testing.
McQ developed for the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) a very low-cost iScout® sensor system for detecting people in buildings and caves after military clearing operations to prevent their reuse by adversaries. The mission applications have expanded to include typical field operations such as Force Protection and facility security. To meet a broader mission capability, McQ significantly enhanced the performance of the iScout® Unattended Ground Sensor (UGS) system. The enhanced performance includes improvements to the seismic, acoustic, magnetic, and passive infrared sensor processing algorithms and multimodal fusion to improve target classification. Additional features are a new radio frequency (RF) network architecture, built-in global positioning system (GPS) for automatic sensor position reporting, a new rugged watertight case, and an extremely low power consumption electronics design. McQ will describe these enhancements and present data characterizing the performance of the enhanced iScout® sensors.
McQ has developed an advanced sensor system tailored for border monitoring that has been delivered as part of the
SBInet program for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Technology developments that enhance a broad
range of features are presented in this paper, which address the overall goal of the system to improving unattended
ground sensor system capabilities for border monitoring applications. Specifically, this paper addresses a system
definition, communications architecture, advanced signal processing to classify targets, and distributed sensor fusion
processing.
McQ has developed a family of state of the art miniaturized low cost unattended ground sensors (UGS). The iScoutTM
sensors are designed for indoor and outdoor intrusion detection and battle damage assessment. McQ has developed an
enhanced version of the iScoutTM sensor that is a very flexible platform capable of performing in a variety of
applications. Sensors are equipped with mesh radios and integrated seismic, acoustic, infrared, and magnetic
transducers. Typical sensor sizes are similar to that of a deck of playing cards. Intended for high volume production,
these are tactically useful sensors that can be manufactured in high volumes at a low cost. This paper will provide an
overview of the iScoutTM sensor systems, features, and performance.
KEYWORDS: Sensors, Heads up displays, Decision support systems, Unattended ground sensors, Manufacturing, Sensor networks, Personal digital assistants, Magnetic sensors, Transducers, Electronics
McQ has developed a family of low cost unattended ground sensors using conventional technology and manufacturing techniques. Intended for small unit operations in an urban environment, these are tactically useful sensors that can be manufactured in large quantities (1M-10M units/year) for a projected production cost of less than $100 each. Secondary characteristics are small size (98 cm3), light weight (85 gm), moderate lifetime (40 hrs), and moderate communications ranges (100m). An overview of the DSS system: its features, performance, and scenarios for use in urban warfare, is presented.
McQ has produced a family of small (98 cm3), inexpensive ($100), unattended ground sensors well suited for urban environments. As a result, a broad range of data has been collected in urban settings. This paper discusses human signatures in urban environments using low cost seismic, infrared, acoustic, and magnetic transducers. Transducer performance and the effects of orientation, building construction, and environmental noise will be focused on. Detection methods used to exploit signatures and resulting performance statistics will also be discussed.
McQ has developed a family of low cost unattended ground sensors that utilize self-configured, mesh network communications for wireless sensing. Intended for use in an urban environment, the area monitored by the sensor system poses a communication challenge. A discussion into the sensor's communication performance and how it affects sensor installation and the operation of the system once deployed is presented.
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