Date: Jan 15, 2010 Source: ARMY SBIR Success Stories (
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The Army has the need for smart sensors that can increase situational awareness and improve the rate of time-sensitive targeting of incoming threats and threat identification. Safety Dynamics developed a hardware platform and localization system that uses multiple algorithms, including an Army-funded, biologically-based neural network to "recognize" the sound of gunshot from multiple calibers in noisy environments.
Sensor Enabled Neural Threat Recognition and Identification (SENTRI) does not require line-of-sight to the shooter, does not miss discharges from subsonic small-arms fire, and eliminates false positives generated by other pulsatile sounds like vehicle backfires and fireworks. Further, the system performs recognition functions in less than one second, alerts the user, and sends camera control commands to a connected Pan, Tilt or Zoom video camera, transferring it to the origin of the shot for instant threat identification.
SENTRI has benefits for both the military and commercial sector. Soldiers equipped with this technology will receive an early warning signal as well as information on the general direction of threats, whether they are from enemy personnel, explosives, or sniper fire.
Commercially, in every occasion where dogs are used for search and rescue or where video monitoring is not allowed (public restrooms, changing rooms), the use of SENTRI can change the appeal of these facilities for would-be terrorists and criminals. The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department added SENTRI to its Advanced Surveillance and Detection Program to detect crimes as they happen and collect video evidence for use in legal proceedings and also to meet Homeland Security surveillance needs.
Phase III Impacts
To date, Safety Dynamics has received $4M in private investments for its SENTRI technology.
