Proceedings Article | 21 September 2004
Proc. SPIE. 5415, Detection and Remediation Technologies for Mines and Minelike Targets IX
KEYWORDS: Detection and tracking algorithms, Imaging systems, Sensors, Image segmentation, Image processing, Hough transforms, Vegetation, Mining, Image filtering, Land mines
There are currently no fielded technologies for noncontact detection of tripwires. Itres Research Ltd. and DRDC Suffield have been conducting research on optical detection of tripwires since 1996, both for hand-held and vehicle-mounted roles. A proof-of-concept brassboard imager, initially for a vehicle-mounted role, has been constructed. The imager uses a high spatial resolution, panchromatic focal plane array whose high degree of integration includes on-board digitization and flexible addressing capabilities for windowing and subimaging. Command, control and signal processing are accomplished by a computer, based on dual 1GHz Pentium III processors. Using a high level, rapid prototyping language, 1 image frame can be processed in 3 seconds. Straightforward improvements should allow true real-time operation to be achieved. Preliminary testing of the imager was conducted in the outdoor DRDC Suffield Mine Pen in January 2003. Taut, sagging and undulating tripwires of various materials were partially hidden, often nearly invisible to the naked eye, in a number of types of local vegetation. Preliminary, quasi-real-time results showed that many of the wires were detected, although a significant number of false alarms occurred. As expected with the present algorithm, sagging, undulating and highly obscured wires were often difficult to detect. The instrument, results of the trial, planned improvements and future research will be discussed.
