IIMEO aims to develop solutions for the automated monitoring of critical infrastructures. These will be built around two key requirements:

• The time between starting a monitoring task and receiving the results should be no more than one hour.
• Monitoring should be possible at any time of day and in all weather conditions.

To meet these goals, we have introduced the IIMEO system, which consists of three complementary parts: an on-board platform, an on-ground platform, and user services. The on-board platform is equipped with advanced sensors (SAR and high-resolution RGB cameras) and utilises innovative processing technologies to handle critical monitoring tasks. The sensors complement each other and provide clear, reliable images regardless of the weather conditions and time of day. A powerful on-board processor uses AI to detect changes and anomalies in the monitored infrastructure.
The on-ground platform provides data storage, data processing, TM/TC functionality, and a web back end that serves as the backbone for various user services, i.e. the web front end. Once development is complete, the key technologies will first be tested in an airborne demonstrator to ensure they work properly before being used in space. In the final year of the project, a flight campaign will showcase the complete system, including on-board data processing. One example will be the automated detection of obstacles on railway tracks. The national railway company in Serbia partners with us to test and use this technology.

Our Technologies

Infrastructure Monitoring Pilot

Reliable transport infrastructure is crucial for a strong economy, providing access to markets, jobs, and social services. The main two types of land transport are roads and railways, with railways being generally safer. However, many accidents still occur each year due to derailments and collisions with obstacles on or near the railway tracks.
Common obstacles include people trespassing and maintenance equipment left behind. Other obstacles are a consequence of geological and natural hazards such as landslides, flooding and extreme weather conditions. Derailments can also occur due to track deformation caused by earthquakes or extreme heat. In recent decades, significant efforts have been made to develop systems for monitoring track conditions and detecting obstacles autonomously, improving safety and reducing the need for personnel to walk along the tracks. Only space-based approaches allow continuous monitoring of infrastructures on a large scale. Airborne solutions work well for small areas, but for larger areas the costs quickly outweigh the benefits. In addition, airborne solutions are also affected by weather conditions, making them unreliable during storms. The prototype of the IIMEO service will be tested under real conditions to demonstrate its functionality. The demonstration will be carried out with the involvement of the pilot end user – Serbian Railway Infrastructure (SRI). The test sites in Serbia have several level crossings where vehicles can be placed to simulate disruptions. In addition, areas that are closed to regular traffic or generally have a low traffic load have been identified and will be used to deliberately place obstacles on the tracks. With this setup, we can test how well the IIMEO system recognises changes on the tracks caused by large objects that are not part of the railway infrastructure.