The SubUAS team offers a multi-faceted riverine surveillance system that will quickly and precisely identify and geographically locate small objects in riverine environments, using a variety of sensor technologies for above and below water detection. The system will include the following: Operational SubUAS Naviator amphibious drone platforms; commercial, off-the shelf sensors including but not limited to long wavelength infrared (IR) cameras and Doppler radar sensors; and proven, edge-based auto-adaptive sensor processing tools intended to operate without access to cloud computing. The detection system will include the following component A shore-powered, elevated sensor array will be housed on a tethered, hovering Naviator platform. The array will include a combined infrared and three-color (IR/RGB) camera and Doppler radar, which will continuously monitor the river surface and visible subsurface for small objects. The array will be configurable to sense targets like swimmers and diver bubbles as well as unexpected debris or turbulence. The hovering Naviator will be powered through its tether by a land-based generator or power supply cable for persistent surveillance. The hovering Naviator will send sensor data to a ground-based surveillance operations center (SOC) via the tether. The Naviator platform will be configurable to house other sensors, most notably marine lidar that may produce more precise detections under lower visibility conditions. A shore-powered underwater sensor array may be housed on a tethered undersea Naviator platform. The array may include active scanning sonar designed to reflect swimmers and other underwater objects on the surface. The underwater surveillance Naviator may be powered through its tether by a land-based generator or power supply cable for persistent surveillance. The underwater Naviator may send sensor data to the SOC using either a network cable directly via the tether. The underwater Naviator platform may be configurable to house other sensors like passive sonar designed to hear unexpected sounds coming from divers or undersea vehicles as well as lidar and other sensors that may produce more precise detections of target objects. A mobile Naviator will be configurable to take close looks at suspected targets above, on or below the surface. Its sensors will include an IR/RGB camera and lighting. The mobile Naviator platform will be configurable to house other sensors that may produce more precise detections under lower visibility conditions. A shore-based and shore-powered surveillance operations center (SOC) will receive and display sensor imagery; house auto-adaptive event detection processors, produce displays that automatically highlight likely targets; and enable the SOC operator to deploy and control the mobile Naviator.
