This Solution Will Enable Finding Small Targets in Ocean

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Whether searching for refugee boats at long range, enforcing fisheries protection rights, stopping drug runners, or rescuing people in water, patrol aircraft need all the tools they can get to find small targets in huge bodies of water. Schiebel and Overwatch Imaging successfully integrated PT8 Oceanwatch, a small target detection payload, on the CAMCOPTER S-100 Unmanned Air System.

Oceanwatch is a solution for applications such as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance gathering, search and rescue, anti-piracy and other maritime security operations, according to defenseworld.net.

The S-100 is a Vertical Takeoff and Landing VTOL UAS with proven capability for military and civilian applications. It operates day and night, under adverse weather conditions, with a range out to 200 km, both on land and at sea. The S-100 navigates automatically via pre-programmed GPS waypoints or can be operated directly with a pilot control unit.

The Oceanwatch delivers an image-based wide area maritime search capability that extends the coverage area and makes the CAMCOPTER S-100 a naval patrol solution.

Oceanwatch uses a purpose-built multi-camera gimbal with onboard artificial intelligence software to automatically detect and locate objects of interest.  Detections are shared in real time with mission management tools, and coordinates are sent to video payloads for additional analysis, according to the company website.

Oceanwatch autonomously detects small targets on the ocean surface, greatly outperforming conventional cameras that face insurmountably large areas when zoomed in and invisible targets when zoomed out.