Intelligent Automation, Inc. — Department of Homeland Security SBIR Phase II: H-SB015.1-007

Description

Today, many canine teams are dispatched in tactical operations that typically involve critical activities such as narcotics/explosives detection, suspect pursuit/apprehension, etc. A canine-mounted tracking and video/audio streaming capability is highly valuable in such cases as it can provide the canine handler and remote observers with precise and up-to-date situational awareness of ongoing events. The current price point of COTS products for such application is, however, still too high for every K9 unit in the country to afford them, and they do not yet fully satisfy typical canine team's needs. To overcome such technical challenges, IAI has previously proposed CAMEL (Canine Mounted Encompassing Locator), a low-cost, rugged, and all-weather wireless video/audio and location streaming system to be carried by a canine during the operations for providing the canine handler and remote observers with real-time tactical situational awareness as well evidence recording capability. The key innovation in the proposed effort is CAMEL-2, the second generation of the CAMEL concept prototypes that is fully operational in relevant environments. The expected contribution of CAMEL-2 to the tactical canine industry is: 1) A robust canine positioning and tracking capability; 2) An effective situational awareness capability; and 3) A reliable evidence recording and archiving capability.