Acorn Energy’s subsidiary US Seismic Systems (USSI) has proclaimed that it has victoriously demonstrated its new fiber optic intruder detection system, an underwater harbor security system, at a test site in the Lake Erie region.
The company had signed a contract with the Penn State’s Electro Optic Center, which was financed by the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC). Two fiber optic sonar arrays were installed by USSI at the bottom of the lake for detection of small craft, which tried to gain entry to a protected region of interest (ROI). All the intrusion endeavors up to a range of 4 km were detected by the USSI equipment. This system belonged to the huge Harbor Sentinel, an integrated harbor security system, which incorporated automated identification system (AIS) ship tracking data, thermal imaging cameras and surface search radar.
The USSI system showed how without operator intervention, ROI alarm and automated tripwire are provided by using a fiber optic underwater sonar array. This was also demonstrated in the Mission Bay testing at San Diego.
According to NSWC’s Jeff Grannan, the US had 360 ports and harbors, wherein they had to deal with a number of explosive, flammable and extremely toxic materials. If the containers storing these hazardous materials get damaged in any way then there was a chance of endangering the nearby population along with upsetting the commerce in the region. The USSI system could thus prove to be a vital tool to the agencies which deal with security in the US.
Source: http://www.acornenergy.com