Multi-Sensor Fusion Module to Detect Marine Mammals
Charles River Analytics was awarded a $1.5 million follow-on contract from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a multi-sensor fusion module that incorporates deep learning to autonomously and accurately detect whales and other aquatic mammals.
To reduce the strain on human lookouts and give USVs the ability to steer clear, NEMO (Nautical Evaluation of Mammal Observation) will improve visual detection and classification on board crewed and uncrewed vessels by developing new animal and ship detectors.
Charles River is working with marine mammal experts at the New England Aquarium to understand whale behavior patterns. Collaborators at Raytheon contributed physics-based acoustic simulations to help model the effects of range, background noise and sea state on acoustic detection reliability.