A micro-drone developed by BEL, hovers at DefExpo 2020 in Lucknow

The drone was designed to follow after troops in the field

Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) is increasingly adopting the use of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to throw up advanced technological solutions to internal security challenges.

The Bangalore-headquartered company may be known as a radar company, but its embrace of AI technologies is resulting in increasingly smaller but advanced inventions.

During a recent interaction at DefExpo 2020 in Lucknow, the company showed DH its new Command Control System (CCS), which can track Persons of Interest (PoI) in public spaces such as airports and railway stations.

“The CCS is more than a video monitoring system. Its AI system can determine anomalous behaviour, identify persons of interest through their gestures or body language and even gauge their emotional state by scanning their faces,” said a BEL officer.

The project, which has been in development since December 2019, can operate on existing CCTV footage. Once, a person of interest is spotted by the system, the AI continues to track that individual for as long as the PoI remains within the CCTV coverage area. The subject’s movements are simultaneously tracked on a digital map.

“The system is geared towards law enforcement and national security agencies,” a BEL scientist said.

Loyal Drone

Among the other inventions is a micro-drone which is designed to independently follow after troops in the field, periodically rising up to scan the landscape ahead. 

“The drone has been programmed to recognise a particular pattern, which is then affixed to a soldier’s back. The drone follows after the pattern, but if this visual link is lost, the drone will scan the surroundings on its own to re-identify the pattern’s location,” a BEL scientist said.

Phone-Tapper

A third AI-infused system which could potentially have citizens being more circumspect in what they say on their mobile phones in public places, is the DVA. 

Short-form for the “Digital Voice Application,” the DVA is a 64-channel-system which is used to automatically identify and record phone calls according to what keywords are inadvertently said by a speaker, according to a project scientist. 

While BEL said that the system is geared towards identifying potential terrorists, the system could potentially skirt public-privacy concerns. The system was recently installed at the Delhi International Airport, the project scientist added.