Panomera S4 Perimeter: For Sterile Zones and CRITIS Applications

The surveillance of narrow strips along perimeters such as fences, buildings or roads, often referred to as ‘sterile zones’, is one of the most difficult challenges for physical security. Until now, video systems as the main system on the perimeter have often failed to live up to user expectations, particularly in high security environments: unsatisfactory detection performance, high false alarm rates and, above all, the fact that the analytics are easy to manipulate are often cited as disadvantages. Other shortcomings include a poor image quality and high infrastructure costs, particularly due to the large number of cameras required. The new Panomera S4 Perimeter from Regensburg-based manufacturer Dallmeier promises to help.

AI Even Manages the Crawling Ghillie Suit

Equipped with a neural network especially trained for perimeter protection, the Panomera S4 Perimeter reliably recognizes people with unusual body postures such as bent over, crouching or lying down, and movement patterns such as very slow, very fast or crawling. People wearing Camouflage Central Europe, British Smock or Ghillie are also reliably detected. The advanced AI tamper detection application will flag up tampering attempts that are typically expected at a perimeter. In addition to twisting, defocusing, spray-painting, and covering the camera or IR illumination, trying to blind the camera with a laser pointer, flashlight or strobe light is also reliably detected. Indirect tampering by deliberately fogging the detection area with pyrotechnics such as smoke grenades or smoke pots is also detected and an alarm is triggered. The combination of these evaluation techniques provides the best possible detection of intrusion attempts with a very low error and false alarm rate.

AI Perimeter App

The Panomera S4 Perimeter has outstanding low-light performance: the latest generation of sensors is three times more sensitive to infrared light than its predecessors were, and delivers outstanding results even under low-light conditions. With a dynamic range of 130dB, it can accurately capture details at distances of up to 200 meters even when lighting is less than ideal. Users can define specially protected areas with pre-zones using the specially developed AI Perimeter application. It is then possible to escalate messages to focus operators’ attention on the most important events when relevant objects (people, vehicles, etc.) enter these zones.

Perimeter Geometry Minimizes Blind Spots

The camera’s special perimeter geometry minimizes blind spots and avoids capturing uninteresting areas beyond the fence – an important privacy benefit. Depending on the model, the sensors are oriented to the right or left and arranged in perspective. This means that even unusual postures and movements can be detected. The camera detects the upper body of a standing person from a distance of as little as 4 meters, enabling targeted surveillance without unnecessarily covering adjacent areas.

“With the Panomera S4 Perimeter we are setting a new standard in perimeter protection: a single system every 200 meters is now sufficient where previously several cameras, complex infrastructure and costly analysis were necessary”, says Thomas Reisinger, CTO of Dallmeier electronic. “Our specially trained perimeter AI reliably detects even the most challenging scenarios, such as people crawling in camouflage or complex manipulation attempts. This is a real revolution in perimeter security, especially for operators of critical infrastructure and organizations that are directly or indirectly affected by NIS-2 and the other CRITIS directives.”