Surveillance Technology Focus Day

7:30 am – 9:30 am Underground Tunnel Detection for Border Surveillance

Homeland Security has been exploring technologies that can be used to develop sensors along the U.S. borders to detect tunnels. The Kansas Geological Survey has tested the effectiveness of seismic sound waves to determine any tunnels underground along the California-Mexico border. This session will discuss how a bobcat vehicle is driven along a particular area using the cylindrical mass on the front to pound the ground every few feet. The pounding causes a seismic shock wave to move through the ground. Sensors inside the fire hose strung out behind the vehicle track those sound waves.

How you will benefit:

• Delve more into the technical aspects of tunnel detection and surveillance
• Find out about project results and recommendations

What you will learn about:

• Configuration of electronic equipment for reading
• Analysis of readings and subsurface imaging

Session Leader:

Richard Miller, PhD
Associate Scientist, Exploration Services Section
Kansas Geological Survey

9:30 am – 11:30 am Remote Sensing As A Tool For Border Security Enhancement

The purpose of this workshop is to illustrate the effectiveness of remote sensing to identify the most likely clandestine crossing points between legitimate ports-ofentry where illegal commodities and people may be moved. These routes may otherwise remain undetected despite aerial or ground surveillance especially when under forest canopy. Identification of potential routes can be further used to position sensors or UAV flightpaths for border surveillance. Enhancing the knowledge base of law enforcement and border services of prioritized threat locations, can aid in the most efficient allocation of resources for securing and monitoring the border against trafficking and illegal crossings.

How you will benefit:

• Discover the latest remote sensing technologies
• Obtain the ability to detect clandestine crossing points
• Gain insight into efficient allocation of resources for border security

What you will learn about:

• Hyperspectral and LiDAR data integration
• Predictive modeling
• Actual trail identification

Session Leader:
Dr. Margaret Kalacska
Geography Department, McGill University
Canadian International Council Fellow – Border Security

11:30 am – 12:30 pm Lunch

1 hour case-study session from L1 Identity Solutions:

12:30pm – 2:30 pm Is there a Role for Microrobotics in Border Management?

(Refreshments will be served)

Over the past four decades, computing has migrated from mainframes to embedded processors. Robotics is undergoing a parallel migration from industrial robots to distributed microrobots. This session therefore summarizes how microscale sensors and actuators are being integrated into “smart micromachines” emulating some sensory, cognitive, motor and communication skills of humans. By the end of this workshop, you will gain a better understanding of the role of microrobotics in the cost-effective manufacturing of reliable microdevices as well as their autonomous deployment for covert reconnaissance in hazardous environments.

How you will benefit:

• Maximize your understanding of microdevices
• Experience the differences between industrial robots to distributed microrobots
• Learn about cost-effective manufacturing of advanced technologies

What you will learn about:

• State-of-the-art in microscale sensors and actuators
• Knowledge based micromanufacturing for on-shore production
• Current and future technologies for the deployment of microrobotic swarms

Session Leader:
Dr. Harry Stephanou
Director, Automation & Robotics Research Institute
Professor of Electrical Engineering, University of Texas at Arlington

2:30 pm – 4:30 pm Development of Biometric Identification Technologies under Co-Operative Scenarios

(Refreshments will be served)

This workshop focuses on face recognition and iris recognition, as it discusses and demonstrates the development of new technology that can achieve distortion tolerant face & iris recognition. The appearance of face images can vary due to a number of factors such as pose, expression and illumination. This session therefore shows the developing techniques such as advanced correlation filters that have built-in tolerance to such variations.

How you will benefit:

• Learn more about distortion-tolerant face and iris recognition
• View a live demonstration of how these advanced biometric technologies can benefit your surveillance capabilities

What you will learn about:

• Face recognition and detection
• Iris segmentation and recognition
• Digital signal and image processing

Session Leader:
Dr. Marios Savvides
Founder and Director, Biometrics Lab
Carnegie Mellon University CyLab