The purpose of PASSport (Operational Platform managing a fleet of semi-autonomous drones exploiting GNSS high Accuracy and Authentication to improve Security & Safety in port areas) is to engineer and qualify a solution extending situational awareness to improve safety and security in port areas. The need comes from the directive 2005/65/CE asking to complement surveillance systems for all of the port area to ensure a high and equal level of safety and security for all European ports. Around one thousand European ports fall within the scope of the directive. As a consequence, PASSport responds to the needs expressed by port authorities, harbour master and border control authorities which are active parties in the consortium and are directly involved in the definition of the proposed solutions.
PASSport solution is about to complement already operational platforms extending the surveillance perimeter using a fleet of drones to provide innovation and operational support to the safety and security aspects of daily operations with particular attention to:
- Pollution monitoring (safety)
- Support to e-navigation (safety)
- Critical buildings/ Infrastructures protection (security)
- Protection against non-cooperative small craft approaching the port areas (security)
- Underwater threats monitoring (security)
In particular, PASSport solution is conceived to build up a semi-automated system based upon:
- Rotary wings and Fixed Wings Remotely Piloted Aircrafts (RPAs) autonomously flying in the port area
- Deployable tethered Remotely Piloted Aircrafts (RPAs) which is tightly coupled with a building through a cable
- Underwater drones
Captured images are processed in real time by a local computer. RPAs are equipped with high accuracy GNSS receivers (i.e. Galileo ready) in order to provide a proper positioning to guarantee autonomous and secure (authenticated Galileo signal will be also used) and continuous operations.
PASSport will be validated via five specifically designed case studies in the ports of Hamburg, Le Havre, Kolobrzeg, Ravenna and Valencia.