The use of Autonomous subsurface drones and devices to enhance port security

In today's global landscape, ports face multifaceted threats, ranging from terrorism to the smuggling of illegal goods like drugs and weaponry and of trafficking or illegal immigrants. In addition to traditional surface vessels, illegal operations use underwater and semisubmersible vehicles, posing challenges for conventional surveillance methods. Cameras provide limited capability for detecting underwater threats and small surface vessels. This underscores the importance of exploring alternative approaches, such as sonars, to bolster port protection and ensure comprehensive security measures.Complex port environments require numerous or mobile sensors to ensure that no blind spots compromise security measures, resulting in a highly sensor-intensive operation. Conventionally, this requires a substantial workforce of sonar operators to manage and interpret the vast amount of data generated. To address this challenge and optimize operational efficiency, integrating artificial intelligence (AI) techniques becomes imperative. AI algorithms for interpreting sonar information may aid port security in identifying potential threats swiftly and accurately amidst the complexity of underwater environments.Our proposed approach involves deploying single hydrophones strategically throughout the port area to automatically detect passing vessels. This data is then passed to an AI system that, combined with other sources of information, such as AIS, assesses the potential threat level. In instances where a potential threat is identified, an aerial drone is deployed to the vessel location, and captures images of the vessel, which are promptly relayed back to the AI system for further classification and evaluation. This integrated system aims to streamline port security operations, enabling proactive threat detection and response through the seamless integration of sensor technology and AI. A demonstration of the system will be tested during the user case work package in the EU Horizon Europe project, Smaug, addressing solutions to enhance the security challenges European ports have.