The ERSA system uses cameras to track aircraft flying too close to the capital’s no-fly zone.

Homeland Protection Systems

The Homeland Protection Systems Group works with U.S. government agencies and military partners to develop, assess, and rapidly transition advanced systems in support of the Homeland’s strategic interests. The group has deployed novel technology solutions to address security challenges in the national airspace, in urban centers, and at critical infrastructure sites.

We specialize in systems integration, systems analysis, and field testing, especially as related to air security operations. Our mission expertise is applied toward developing innovative approaches to architecture design, algorithm and hardware prototyping, and general problem-solving. Our team of scientists, engineers, and technologists develop and employ cutting-edge techniques in exploratory data analysis, predictive analytics, and systems engineering to produce solutions for complex problems in constrained environments.

Featured Projects

An screengrab from the video showing about a dozen robots in a large room (representing humans at a party)
sensing
An automated, Bluetooth-based system helps perform contact tracing in a private, anonymous way, offering a method to reduce disease spread during a pandemic.
A group of five researchers pose in a field with two UAVs.
autonomous systems
We are building a toolbox of autonomous functions for unmanned aerial systems to improve UAS missions and alleviate burden on human operators in the field.
Commercial unmanned aerial systems, like the one pictured above, are increasingly flown in urban areas; if used for illicit purposes, they can pose dangers to civilians.
UAS
The prototype is enabling DHS to test technologies that can counter the threats posed by commercial drones.

Advancing Our Research