Vicomtech coordinates the BorderUAS European project which aims to develop a semi-autonomous border surveillance platform
This innovative and cost-effective solution will combine the use of next generation unmanned aerial vehicles with ultra-high-resolution multi-sensor surveillance payload, and will be deployed by the European border police.
19.08.2020
Nineteen organizations from 12 European countries joined forces for a new project on technologies which enhance border and external security. The project will combine for the first time a multi-role lighter-than-air (LTA) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with an ultra-high-resolution multi-sensor surveillance payload supporting border surveillance, search & rescue applications and specifically rough terrain detection.
The BORDERUAS project kicked off in June in a virtual three-day meeting covering a rich agenda concluding to a concrete action plan for the months ahead. More than 40 participants representing all partners attended the meetings and had the chance to establish the initial communications and guidelines that will facilitate the progress of the project. The project consortium was developed to balance the contribution of 3 main categories of stakeholders related to:
a. End-User Innovation
b. Industry-driven Innovation
c. Research and Legal &Ethics considerations.
BORDERUAS is a Research and Innovation Action project that focuses on an interdisciplinary approach to develop the promised results encouraging a joined effort by researchers, industry, suppliers and end-users. The objective of the project is to optimize the surveillance systems in the European Borders developing an innovative yet cost benefit solution. The final solution of the project will lead to a system that will be deployed further by the European border police even after the end of the project.
The Project Advisor welcomed with enthusiasm this endeavor mentioning the importance of the security, ethical and legal issues that may arise during the project. He also referred to some challenges identified and most significantly the sustainability of the project’s solution that will enhance the surveillance capabilities of the European Border Police in the current critical times.
The project is being coordinated by Vicomtech. The centre will contribute to the project with its expertise on surveillance systems, applying innovative machine learning solutions to the analysis of video and LIDAR feeds, providing semantic analysis and fusion of security events captured by the multimodal variety of the implemented sensors, and employing data mining technologies for interactive, end-user tailored visual analytics of the captured data.
BorderUAS will last for 36 months and is funded by the European Commission with a total amount of about 7 Million Euro.
The Consortium
Coordinator: Vicomtech (ES) Partners: Hipersfera (HR), AVT (HR), DIAN (IT), DIRACS (SER), ADITESS (CY), TUC (GR) , IMP(SER), SIMAVI (RO), KEMEA (GR), Hellenic Police (GR), CDBP of Bulgaria (BG), IPTFT (RO), IGPF MAI (MD), SBGS of Ukraine (UKR), SBC of Belarus (BLR), Interakcia (BLR), MITLA (MT), FORTH (GR)
The project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 883272
