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Marines abandon Dragon Eye UAV for the Raven B
Although the Dragon Eye has seen its share of successes, high cost and inability to handle strong winds sent the Marines back to the drawing board; AeroVironment’s Raven B, already popular with the Army, looks to take up the mission at lower cost
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Northrop to supply Navy with two Fire Scout UAV helicopters
$16.2 million contract modification a good sign for this intriguing craft; based on the Schweizer Model 333 manned helicopter, Fire Scout is especially suited for reconnaissance, mine detection, and as a communications node for future warfare applications
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DRS receives $10 million DoD order for its MSTAR radar system
Low energy-consumptive MSTAR is ideally suited for perimeter security applications; company already a government favorite for its thermal weapon sights
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Dayton positions itself as a sensor center
Ohio’s Third Frontier Commission awards $28 million for the development of a sensor technology research center; business partners include Woolpert, General Dynamics, UES, YSI, and L-3 Communications Cincinnati Electronics
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Nice to grow through strategic acquisitions
Israeli video surveillance maker completed three acquisitions in 2006 for more than $235 million; it is planning on acquiring additional companies
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RemoteReality receives $7.3 million in VC funding
Battelle Ventures and Chart Venture partners pick up the tab; company a DoD favorite for its 360-degree video analytics technology; USS Cole and USS Greenville incidents drive demand for on-board surveillance and monitoring
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U Maryland team develops new surveillance technology
Terrapins researchers develop a human-gait recognition biometric system which, when combined with aaditional facial and height recognition elements, offers a powerful new surveillance tool aiming to prevent criminal and terrorist act, not merely record them
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Legal Eagle: Who owns surveillance video?
An ATM robbery prompts the question after the bank refuses to show surveillance footage to the aggrieved customer; Ken Kirschenbaum urges companies to comply with law enforcement requests; in most cases, no harm can come of sharing footage, so long as the company is not worried about what the tapes might show about their own procedures
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Integrian buys Signal Innovations Group
Deal expands Integrian’s mobile surveillance and analytics business; SIG known for data modeling and algorithm design for defense applications; acquisition the third in two years for Integrian
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Texas virtual border patrol goes on-line
After a one-month stress test, state proclaims effort a success; more than 200,000 register to watch for illegal immigrants on their desktops; one major arrest reported; technological and contracting issues hamper full $5 million roll-out
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Trace Systems eyes growing wireless sensor network market
The wireless sensor network market is growing by leaps and bounds, and this Virginia-based company wants to be a major player in it
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Military technologies fight elephant poaching
Dual and triple-use technology adds value to a homeland security portfolio; sensors designed to locate enemy soldiers now helps track down illegal hunters; magnetometer detects guns; Cornell adds gunshot locating application to elephant monitoring system
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Aurora Flight Sciences to test new Goldeneye 80 UAV
Federal government hopes for success in effort to encourage UAVs to run on standard diesel fuel; procurement efficiency at issue; Goldeneye 80 goes up against Honeywell UAV for DARPA funding, and both move forward into Phase 3 testing; winning UAV will support small units on tactical missions
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New catadioptric lens a major improvement on the fisheye
Old, distortion-prone lenses to sleep with the fishes; Korean researcher the first to create a commercially-viable wide-angle system using both a catopric and dioptic lens; indoor surveillance prime market
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Oxford City outfits housing employees with tracking and recording badges
New technology allows rent collectors to quietly raise the alarm during a confrontation; push a button and an open channel is created; conversations are recorded for legal purposes; Connexion2, Vodafone, and Identicom provide the technology
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More headlines
The long view
Using Drone Swarms to Fight Forest Fires
Forest fires are becoming increasingly catastrophic across the world, accelerated by climate change. Researchers are using multiple swarms of drones to tackle natural disasters like forest fires.
Testing Cutting-Edge Counter-Drone Technology
Drones have many positive applications, bad actors can use them for nefarious purposes. Two recent field demonstrations brought government, academia, and industry together to evaluate innovative counter-unmanned aircraft systems.