Use your years of experience to envision, design, and develop the next generation of ArcGIS products. Join ESRI, where your individual contributions will have an impact on new software functionality. Apply now or search other opportunities.
Montana Company Licenses Invention, Will Develop Perimeter Security Product
Written by GCS Research
Wednesday, 22 February 2006
BOZEMAN, Mont. – Picture an intruder stepping stealthily across an international borderline. Now shift to a U.S. Command and Control center several miles away where a computer system is alerting a security officer to the intruder's movement, having detected the slight sound of a footstep and zeroed in on the intruder's exact location. The security officer dispatches a UAV to monitor from the air, ground forces to intercept on the ground, and the intruder is stopped.
The detection, classification, location, and tracking system is a recently de-classified covert surveillance and intelligence gathering system, which is now in full-scale development as a result of a licensing agreement between the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC), Newport, R.I., which invented the sensor technology, and GCS Research of Missoula, Mont., which is further developing and commercializing it.
"We are extremely excited to have finalized our licensing agreement with the Naval Undersea Warfare Center," states Alex Philp, President of GCS Research. "Since we began working with the Navy on the Blue Rose technology, the demand for next-generation covert intelligence and surveillance sensor systems has risen exponentially. We look forward to meeting this demand with our commercial partners and maintaining a close, working relationship with the Naval Undersea Warfare Center."
The patented surveillance system, known as Blue Rose, was developed by the Navy to locate and track nearby events by sound. It employs highly sensitive sensors, control and measurement electronics, and buried optical fiber. The Blue Rose system was originally designed to provide safety and security for ships, infrastructure, and personnel in and around the marine environment. It is currently in place at the NUWC's Newport facility.
After learning about Blue Rose, GCS Research entered into a collaborative agreement with the Navy to evaluate the technology and determine how it could be used to detect, track, classify, notify, and communicate information about moving objects in remote locations. GCS suspected that the Blue Rose system could be used to identify an intrusion from far away if it was integrated with geospatial information technology such as GIS (geographic information system), which is the company's specialty. Working together, the Navy and company are integrating the perimeter security sensors and detection software with GIS location technology.
The resulting system, code-named TRIPWIRE™, can accurately pinpoint the location of a remote acoustic event such as a human or animal footstep, or the movement of an airborne or ground-based vehicle. It can also identify the source of the acoustic event and track its movements. These advancements put an important new information tool in the homeland security arsenal for border patrolling and also provide a system that can aid in high value critical infrastructure protection (CIP).
Currently, GCS Research has entered into a follow-on R&D agreement with the Navy to expand upon the classification capabilities of the technology as well as other next-phase enhancements. To assist with commercial production capability, GCS Research has selected S&K Electronics in Ronan, MT as its manufacturing partner to build the core TRIPWIRE components and integrate the solution with SKE's advanced DSP. GCS Research is actively integrating TRIPWIRE capabilities with on-going DoD and DHS projects.
The TechLink Center, a Department of Defense-funded technology transfer center located in Bozeman, Montana, helped partner the NUWC and GCS for the joint research and aided in the subsequent licensing agreement.
About GCS Research
GCS Research LLC is a geospatial information technology company headquartered in Missoula, Montana. We deliver integrated products and services that allow our clients to organize, protect, visualize, analyze, and share their geospatial information across distributed networks. We specialize in custom geospatial applications and interoperable Web services that harness the power of location intelligence and deliver this information across the enterprise. GCS Research provides award-winning geospatial solutions designed to support connected workflows and powerful, client experiences.
GISuser Spotlight... Twitter clients for the Google G1 and Android mobile smart phones - I’m currently using the G1 as my main/only mobile device - it’s a perfect time for such a challenge because I’m also traveling and away from the office so there are always hiccups and glitches that can occur under such circumstances - a perfect time for a test!
The 2009 NAVTEQ LBS Challenge a look at the semi finalists, the Winning apps, and the LBSzone picks! At the CTIA Wireless event in Las Vegas, NAVTEQ held the award ceremonies for their 6th LBS Challenge, a competition designed to stimulate interest in location services and encourage developers to create innovative location-aware applications. We look at the state of LBS, the TOP apps, the winners, and our own top picks!
Economic Stimulus Project areas that may create GIS/Geo Tech Opportunities - Like many of you, we haven't really had time to go through the entire 1,071 page Detailed List of Spending - you can view and download the entire document at ProRepublica. We did take a little time, however, to go through this fine summary.
ESRI Business GIS Summit, July 12-15, 2009 · San Diego, CA - This combination provides an unprecedented opportunity to learn how GIS addresses today's business challenges. If you're interested in business GIS as a manager, executive, or user, there's no better event to attend.vealed.
ESRI International User Conference, July 13-17, 2009 · San Diego, CA - ESRI customers across the globe are invited to register to attend the world's largest gathering of GIS professionals.
Webinar: Google Earth For Your Government Agency - Join Google and DLT an informative webinar on Tuesday, June 30th from 2-3 ET to learn more about how the Google Earth Enterprise solution is helping government agencies to collaborate, and take faster, more informed action.
Is your LizardTech Lizard star material? SHOW US and you could win a new GPS system. Simply snap a creative photo of your favorite, authentic LizardTech Collectable Lizard and see how it measures up. Photos will be featured on the official LizardTech Flickr page and voted on by viewers everywhere. Submit yours today and win!
See more 
