Project SkyWatch (a.k.a. Wescam at Home)
4 months ago
- #aviation
- #open-source
- #surveillance
- Professional aviation surveillance uses EO/IR gimbals for stable target tracking.
- A consumer PTZ camera was adapted to track aircraft without high costs.
- PTZ cameras have slow motors, making tracking fast-moving aircraft challenging.
- A custom control loop shifts tracking responsibility from mechanics to software.
- Visual processing uses OpenCV and CSRT for accurate aircraft tracking.
- A Kalman Filter predicts aircraft position to compensate for system latency.
- A PID + Feed-Forward Loop combines error correction with predictive control.
- Digital stabilization ('virtual gimbal') compensates for mechanical limitations.
- ADS-B telemetry provides additional context for tracked aircraft.
- The project is an experiment in sousveillance, adapting ISR tech for civilian use.
- The project is open-source, available on GitHub under an MIT license.