Automated tracking: Software could help monitor UAV feeds

摘要

Every day, U.S. Air Force UAV operators stare at monitors receiving real-time video of vehicles known to carry hunted terrorists. Days can pass without movement, but the airmen keep staring, afraid to blink and risk losing a targeted pickup truck or Mercedes sedan as it drives out of the Predator sensor ball's field of view. Soon, they might not have to look so hard. There's a software program in the works that would autonomously follow ground movement or track vehicles -- one of many projects the Air Force Research Laboratory is working on to get the most out of manned and unmanned spy aircraft. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently challenged all four services to find "out-of-the-box" solutions to provide field commanders with more intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft over Iraq and Afghanistan.