SEERS has brought into play expertise and state-of-the-art approaches borrowed from different disciplines, namely sensor technology, multi-aperture optics and image reconstruction techniques, embedded vision and image analysis, advanced video analytics for surveillance, and integration of surveillance solutions for safety and civil security. The novel features of the system are:
- Multisensor and uncooled because SEERS integrates by the first time the three unique uncooled monolithic SiCMOS compatible infrared technologies covering three IR windows (NIR, LWIR and MWIR). Low manufacturing cost of CMOS compatible sensors, enabling technology to develop new applications not previously possible and fast sensor evolution.
- A snapshot spectral and super-resolution imager, as a result of combining a multi-aperture arrangement and computational imaging;
- A modular optoelectronic arrangement that allow to obtain different combinations of bands in a straightforward manner and at a cost scaled to the number of bands. Agile spectral reconfiguration and optimization;
- Smart, since it features embedded processing of acquired images for reconstructing the multispectral stack, extracting measurements, fusing images,pre-processing video, and sending data and alarms to the Video Management Software (VMS); -Versatile and compliant with realistic requirements that a real surveillance scenario for safety and civil security demands. The system features an advanced video analytics system suitable to be integrated in a real VMS platforms.
SEERS has also an impact on an important environmental and social aspect: the increase on the security and safety of European large infrastructures, with strong implications on the security and safety of population and environments. In the case of the traffic scenario, regional and European administrations are highly concerned with the security and safety of public transportation infrastructures. Coastal surveillance, on its part, covers a wide range of security and safety threats, each one having a great social impact, among them, smuggling and illegal migrant detection. Another great concern of the European society that is addressed in SEERS is the great environmental impact that safety weaknesses of critical infrastructures potentially present. Accidents in infrastructures such as oil and gas refineries or nuclear plants may have catastrophic environmental consequences that greatly worry citizens and administrations. SEERS provides a useful tool for the display of an early response in case of accidents, thus limiting the environmental consequences in such situations.
