Preacherman
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From the USAF Web site (http://www.af.mil/stories/story.asp?storyID=123006100):
Technology helps locate shooters
11/25/2003 - ROME, N.Y. (AFPN) --
Military people in world hotspots might soon tell where people shooting at them are located by using technology Defense Department and Air Force researchers are developing.
Network Embedded Systems Technology uses a system of sensor nodes that can be scattered throughout a given area, checkpoint, building or vehicle convoy, said Juan Carbonell, who helped develop the technology.
These nodes track the shock wave a bullet creates as it moves through the air, he said. They detect the time the acoustic shock and muzzle blast arrives when a shot is fired within the nodes’ range to determine where the shot came from.
"We're hoping this will help our people in Iraq,†Carbonell said. "They say sometimes their vehicles are so noisy they don't even know they're being shot at until two or three shots arrive. With NEST, they'll not only know they're being shot at, but can find out where the shot came from."
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency officials with support from Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate experts recently demonstrated the technology at Fort Benning, Ga.
The technology’s goal is to "fine-grain" fuse physical and information processes, Carbonell said. The objective is to build dependable, real-time, distributed, embedded applications comprising 100 to 100,000 simple computing nodes which will include physical and information-system components coupled by sensors and actuators.
"This initiative is inspired by extraordinary advances in microsensors, microelectronics, advanced sensor fusion algorithms, self-localization technologies and information technologies," Carbonell said. "NEST is advancing capabilities in networked sensor technologies, hardware, software and communications. The long-term vision is an intelligent, Web-centric distribution and fusion of sensor information that will greatly enhance warfighters' situational awareness."
The nodes will be small enough and rugged enough to be seeded in operational environments via aerial drops, robotic emplacement and manual distribution, Carbonell said.
The Ft. Benning demonstrations included a military operations coordinate grid and shooter localization using a sensor network.
The coordinate grid demonstration provided real-time tracking of blue, red and neutral forces within the grid, Carbonell said. Participants were given active tags, and their locations within the grid were shown in both a handheld personal computer and a laptop computer. The system was accurate within two meters and it took about two seconds to determine the shooter's location, he said.
The shooter localization demonstration used an ad-hoc wireless network of inexpensive acoustic sensors to accurately locate enemy shooters, Carbonell said. The wireless nodes were fitted with a custom sensor board that contained a microphone and some additional processing capability.
A number of live fire and blank shots were taken from different areas within the demonstration area, and the system accurately located them all, Carbonell said. For the live-fire shots, the system also provided a visual vector in the direction of the bullet.
The system used in this demonstration was accurate to within one meter and took less than a half second to determine where the shooter was located. The system even showed the difference between shots being taken by a soldier while kneeling or standing up, Carbonell said.
Technology helps locate shooters
11/25/2003 - ROME, N.Y. (AFPN) --
Military people in world hotspots might soon tell where people shooting at them are located by using technology Defense Department and Air Force researchers are developing.
Network Embedded Systems Technology uses a system of sensor nodes that can be scattered throughout a given area, checkpoint, building or vehicle convoy, said Juan Carbonell, who helped develop the technology.
These nodes track the shock wave a bullet creates as it moves through the air, he said. They detect the time the acoustic shock and muzzle blast arrives when a shot is fired within the nodes’ range to determine where the shot came from.
"We're hoping this will help our people in Iraq,†Carbonell said. "They say sometimes their vehicles are so noisy they don't even know they're being shot at until two or three shots arrive. With NEST, they'll not only know they're being shot at, but can find out where the shot came from."
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency officials with support from Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate experts recently demonstrated the technology at Fort Benning, Ga.
The technology’s goal is to "fine-grain" fuse physical and information processes, Carbonell said. The objective is to build dependable, real-time, distributed, embedded applications comprising 100 to 100,000 simple computing nodes which will include physical and information-system components coupled by sensors and actuators.
"This initiative is inspired by extraordinary advances in microsensors, microelectronics, advanced sensor fusion algorithms, self-localization technologies and information technologies," Carbonell said. "NEST is advancing capabilities in networked sensor technologies, hardware, software and communications. The long-term vision is an intelligent, Web-centric distribution and fusion of sensor information that will greatly enhance warfighters' situational awareness."
The nodes will be small enough and rugged enough to be seeded in operational environments via aerial drops, robotic emplacement and manual distribution, Carbonell said.
The Ft. Benning demonstrations included a military operations coordinate grid and shooter localization using a sensor network.
The coordinate grid demonstration provided real-time tracking of blue, red and neutral forces within the grid, Carbonell said. Participants were given active tags, and their locations within the grid were shown in both a handheld personal computer and a laptop computer. The system was accurate within two meters and it took about two seconds to determine the shooter's location, he said.
The shooter localization demonstration used an ad-hoc wireless network of inexpensive acoustic sensors to accurately locate enemy shooters, Carbonell said. The wireless nodes were fitted with a custom sensor board that contained a microphone and some additional processing capability.
A number of live fire and blank shots were taken from different areas within the demonstration area, and the system accurately located them all, Carbonell said. For the live-fire shots, the system also provided a visual vector in the direction of the bullet.
The system used in this demonstration was accurate to within one meter and took less than a half second to determine where the shooter was located. The system even showed the difference between shots being taken by a soldier while kneeling or standing up, Carbonell said.
