Dibazar summarized system performance as 'showing a perfect (100%) identification of unexpected intrusion events, and an average of less than two false positives per week and zero false negatives for recognition of human footsteps. The TSA is currently using this airport as proving grounds for systems to be installed at the first post 9/11 airport construction in the United States. Smart Fence was first tested in the California desert near the Army's 29 Palms testing grounds, and then demonstrated for Naval Command at the Panama City Bay County International Airport in Panama City, FL, in conjunction with the Naval Surface Warfare Center of Panama City. The SENTRI system, marketed by Tucson-based Safety Dynamics, is currently used by police departments in several cities to reduce crime. SENTRI is installed on light poles in urban environments and like the Smart Fence sensorssends localization data to nearby surveillance cameras to capture the origin of the sound. In 2003, Berger used his research in neural processing of information to create SENTRI, a smart sensor detection system that recognizes the sound of a gunshot and discriminates gunshots from firecrackers, car backfires, and other similar noises.

Berger is also a professor in the school's department of biomedical engineering. Berger, Director of the Laboratory for Neural Dynamics, and David Packard Chair in Engineering at the Viterbi School. The biologically-inspired system builds on previous implementations of computational neuroscience created by team member Theodore W. In turn, the ground sensors ignore the presence of large jets, but raise alerts for human footsteps in unauthorized areas and can be programmed to either raise alerts or to simply report the presence of vehicles in certain protected areas.ĭibazar notes that 'all the sensors slew video cameras to the origin of the intrusion event for threat identification.' However, the same fence system actively raises alerts if the fence is climbed or if someone attempts to breach the perimeter.

For example, in its use at airports, the sensors were trained to ignore typical fence manipulation (kicking, leaning, shaking) by visitors who gather at at end-of-runway fence lines and watch landings and take-offs. The system's novel approach allows target intrusion sounds to be identified by customers with specific needs. Credit: USC Viterbi School of Engineering

The USC Smart Fence system uses combined input from three sensors (top to bottom: motion, acoustic, and seismic), looking for spatiotemporal patterns of perimeter intrusion.

Smart notes fences