Dehradun: To bolster the Indian Army’s defence and surveillance systems along the border, the Dehradun-based Instruments Research and Development Establishment (IRDE), an arm of the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), has developed a state-of-the-art surveillance equipment —Video and Image Processing Enhancement and Recognition System (VIPERS).

According to scientists at IRDE, VIPERS is an automated round-the-clock multi-sensor surveillance system capable of providing high-resolution imaging in any environment. It will also enable the army to get “clinical precision while firing”.

“VIPERS is based on artificial intelligence and can recognise 20 different types of objects at a distance of up to 20 kilometre range. It is equipped with a convolutional neural network hardware chip which can capture photos at seven frames per second. Several chips can be teamed up to boost the performance of the automated surveillance in real time,” said JP Singh, a senior scientist at IRDE who is heading the project team.

“VIPERS can work with day and night cameras, including Thermal Imagers, Active Laser, IR LED etc., to ensure flawless surveillance,” added Singh.

The scientist further said that it took a few decades to shape up the system.

“The system has been developed after painstaking efforts of several years. My team is excited about the forthcoming field trials to be conducted by Indian Army next month which would test the entire range of features of the system and also help plan the next level of upgrade,” said Singh.

