No,
it’s not an early John Wayne classic movie. In June,
UCSD engineers unveiled a novel, wide-area, multi-camera, computer-vision
system to monitor the U.S.-Mexico border crossing between Eagle
Pass, Texas, and Piedras Negras, Mexico. The prototype system is
being used to deter and detect criminal activity and ensure smooth
traffic flow around the Camino Real International Bridge across
the Rio Grande.
The video surveillance system,
dubbed “Eagle Eyes,” was developed by UCSD computer
science and engineering professor Mohan Trivedi and his team
of graduate researchers. They received approximately $100,000 from
the federal interagency Technical Support Working Group (TSWG)
responsible for technology research to combat terrorism.
“It is wonderful to see the advanced science and technology developed
by the University of California, San Diego, assisting the people
of Texas,” says Chris Aldridge, western director of the Border
Research and Technology Center (BRTC), which serves as a technology
resource for law enforcement agencies along the U.S.-Mexico border. “We
believe that this will become a valuable platform that may be modeled
by other law enforcement agencies protecting our bridges and borders.”
The system includes three networked cameras mounted on the Camino
Real bridge: a stationary omnidirectional (360-degree view) camera,
which will give the police a wide-area view of the entire bridge
as well as the nearby international pedestrian and railroad bridges,
roads and river banks. It also employs two pan-tilt-zoom cameras—one
with infrared nighttime vision. These cameras allow police to zero
in with high resolution on objects of interest. The cameras are
linked to a control room in the Eagle Pass customs building via
a secure wireless connection. It is one of the few systems to use
omnidirectional cameras and wireless connections
in an outdoor setting.
Eagle Eyes runs on Trivedi’s
custom software, which helps capture, analyze, encrypt, transmit
and display visual information.
Key to the system is the ability to recognize suspicious activity
in critical
hot spots. If the system detects unusual movement, it will immediately
flag the video stream.
Trivedi and his team at the UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering
and Calit2 have been working on the TSWG video surveillance project
since 2002, and began the collaboration with Eagle Pass about
one
year ago. All of the Eagle Eyes features are scrupulously tested
and verified on an exact replica of the system located on the
UCSD campus, before being deployed at Eagle Pass. Trivedi says
he and
his team will be working over the next year and beyond to add
new system capabilities tailored to the needs of the Eagle Pass
police. — Denine Hagen
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