Robot helicopters hunt pirates with lasers

With piracy on the high seas becoming a rampant problem, the US Navy is developing autonomous “robocopters” with 3D imaging laser technology to track them down.

 

A report on tech site Mashable said the Office of Naval Research had announced it would begin testing the pirate-seeking drones late this summer.  

 

"These helicopters will use high-definition cameras and sensors, including laser-radar technology (LADAR), to collect 3D images. The technology is called Multi-Mode Sensor Seeker (MMSS) and will be attached to a robot called Fire Scout. Fire Scout and its advanced recognition software will sift through boat images captured by the camera and see if they match targeted pirate boats," Mashable said.

 

It added the drones and a software program would be the first line of defense against pirates.

 

Presently, 2D technology is being used to capture images of ships from the air but can leave the aerial crew at a disadvantage as 2-D objects captured by infrared and visible cameras can be difficult to automatically identify.

 

With 3D technology and laser imaging, details on ships can be easier to spot, Mashable said.

 

“The 3-D data gives you a leg up on target identification,” it quoted Dean Cook, principal investigator for the MMSS program at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD), as saying in a statement.

 

Cook said the LADAR data allows an automatic target recognition algorithm to calculate the dimensions of an object and compare them to those in a database.

 

The pirate-scanning algorithms have been tested onshore against ships, Mashable said.

 

The technology will be tested on manned aircraft off the coast of California and on seven small boats this summer, Mashable said.

 

It added the military is working on a number of drones to combat crime, terrorism and illegal activity. — TJD, GMA News