Proceedings Article | 24 July 1997
KEYWORDS: Sensors, Transducers, Magnetic sensors, Infrared sensors, Target detection, Directed energy weapons, Unattended ground sensors, Telecommunications, Computer intrusion detection, Digital signal processing
This paper describes a passive unattended ground sensor which employs multiple sensor nodes of various transducer types to effect a sensor of exceptional utility and performance. This sensor will employ a seismic/acoustic classifying sensor and one or more additional sensor nodes as short or long range infrared, magnetic, piezo cable, microwave, or any other transducer providing a digital output. The resulting multi-node sensor will provide all weather capabilities to detect targets with high reliability, classify as either personnel, wheeled vehicle, or tracked vehicle, count the number of targets, and determine the direction of travel. The sensor weights less than two lb. and is one quarter the cost of comparable single-node-only sensors. The sensor communicates via a high quality RF link to a hand-held monitor which can be used alone, or tied to a palmtop/laptop computer to display detections on a digital map overlay. These capabilities allow the sensor deployment to be tailored by fielded forces to the terrain, environmental conditions, and threat to maximize mission effectiveness. The operational flexibility this provides a soldier is currently unmatched at any cost, at any size, and yet will be provided in a small, lightweight, low cost unit. The paper describes the design and performance of IDEWS-MN, the Communications Systems multi-mode unattended ground sensor system emphasizing the advantages of the modular architecture that allows for the inclusion of additional sensor capabilities, without changes to the basic hardware, software, or operational concepts of the sensor system.
