The Man-Portable Networked Sensor System (MPNSS), with its baseline sensor suite of a pan/tilt unit with video and FLIR cameras and laser rangefinder, functions in a distributed network of remote sensing packages and control stations designed to provide a rapidly deployable, extended-range surveillance capability for a wide variety of security operations and other tactical missions. While first developed as a man-portable prototype, these sensor packages can also be deployed on UGVs and UAVs, and a copy of this package been demonstrated flying on the Sikorsky Cypher VTOL UAV in counterdrug and MOUNT scenarios. The system makes maximum use of COTS components for sensing, processing, and communications, and of both established and emerging standard communications networking protocols and system integration techniques. This paper will discuss the technical issues involved in: (1) system integration using COTS components and emerging bus standards, (2) flexible networking for a scalable system, and (3) the human interface designed to maximize information presentation to the warfighter in battle situations.
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