Abu Dhabi Customs (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE)) use full line of X-ray cargo inspection systems from American Science and Engineering, Inc. (AS&E; Billerica, MA, USA) systems to combat terrorism, drug and weapons smuggling, illegal immigration, and trade fraud. This allows the customs authorities to protect their borders and citizens while supervising trade and revenue collection.
Simtix (Dubai, UAE) and Perceptics (Knoxville, TN, USA), which is a subcontractor of AS&E, are now collaborating to improve security at the Abu Dhabi customs. "We are very excited to partner with Simtix and AS&E... By combining our expertise, we will be creating one of the most comprehensive border security systems in the region, capable of addressing today's complex threat environments," said Larry Smith, vice president of field operations at Perceptics.
The two companies are integrating under-vehicle inspections with license plate recognition into AS&E's border security systems, which involves installing the Under Vehicle Inspection System (UVIS) and License Plate Reader (LPR) imaging system. The UVIS compares high-resolution 4K true-color line digital camera images of the vehicle undercarriage with images of similar vehicles. The all-weather system utilizes a high-velocity air blade to keep the unit free of sand and moisture. The seamless digital image, taken with 12x zoom capacity, allows the operator to view the entire undercarriage. An integrated scene camera provides a snapshot of the vehicle.
The LPR imaging system features an Arabic optical character recognition engine that recognizes all types of license plates (retro-reflective, nonretro-reflective, embossed and flat). Customs officials can perform real-time vehicle risk assessment based on the accurate full plate, state of origin, and country of origin identification provided by the system. The Vehicle Inspection Software (VIS) provides an intuitive, dependable and rapid method of consolidating the high-resolution images produced by the LPR and UVIS systems. Designed with scalable, Ethernet-based architecture, VIS maintains a list of suspect vehicles with operator alarms and can send e-mail alarm notifications to off-site officials. The VIS database is fully searchable, based on criteria, such as vehicle type, driver's name, license plate or time and date range.
"This project is an excellent opportunity for us to help raise security standards... in Abu Dhabi, the Emirates and the entire Gulf region. We also look forward to the added knowledge that we will acquire through our partnership with two of the world's top security solutions providers. Today's security threats are just too broad to be addressed by a single company," concluded Simtix CEO Wafic Faraj.
Related Links:
Abu Dhabi Customs
American Science and Engineering, Inc.
Simtix
Perceptics
