OmniTrax - Ranging buried cable detection sensor

OmniTrax®

Ranging buried cable detection sensor

OmniTrax® is the fifth generation, covert outdoor perimeter security intrusion detection sensor that generates an invisible radar detection field around buried sensor cables. If an intruder disturbs the field, an alarm is declared and the location of the intrusion is determined.

Application

Sensor cables can be direct-buried in a variety of mediums including most normal soil types, asphalt and concrete. In soil the cables are buried approximately 23 cm (9 in.) below the surface. In asphalt and concrete slots are cut approximately 6 cm (2.25 in.) deep The terrain-following, volumetric detection field is typically 1 m (3.28 ft.) high by 3 m (9.84 ft.) wide by up to 800 m (2625 ft. or 1/2 mile) long per sensor processor. Systems can be standalone or networked for long perimeters whereby sensor cables are connected together to create a continuous perimeter.

How it works

OmniTrax uses ported (“leaky”) coaxial sensor cables to create an invisible elecromagnetic detection field. The cables are designed with apertures in the transmit cable’s outer conductor which allow energy to escape and be retrieved by the corresponding parallel receive cable. OmniTrax uses a patented coded pulse signal technique to determine the exact intrusion location, which can identify multiple intruders simultaneously.

Detection is based on the intruder’s electrical conductivity, size and speed. The Probablity of detection (Pd) for an upright 35 kg (77 lbs.) intruder, penetrating through the detection field and moving between 50 mm (2 in.) per second to 8 m (26 ft.) per second is greater than 99%, with 95% confidence. Objects weighing less than 10 kg (22 lbs.) are rejected with a statistical confidence level of 95%. Any attempt to tamper with the cables, the processor or its enclosure, causes an alarm.

OmniTrax sensor calibration is simple. Walking down the sensor cables while in calibration mode allows the system to automatically adjust to the sensitivity of each meter (3.3 ft.) and thus compensates for site variations. Buried cable installation has never been so easy with calibrated thresholding.

Each OmniTrax processor can divide the perimeter protected by its two cable sets into as many as 50 alarm zones. Zones can be changed at any time by technical personnel using the UCM software.