Air Force Academy

Cadet-senior sergeant MARKOVA, Vasilena - 22 years old, from Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Specialisation "Air Force Logistics", her motivation to participate in the Hackathon is that she is interested in space and she is studying at the Air Force Academy.

Cadet-senior sergeant NIKOLOVA, Kristiyana - 23 years old, from Pleven, Bulgaria. Specialisation "Aircraft and Aviation Engines"

Cadet YANKOV, Ivan - 19 years old, from Sofia, Bulgaria. Specialisation "Military Fighter Jet Pilot"

Cadet YANKOVA, Siyana -19 years old, from Sofia, Bulgaria. Specialisation "Military Helicopter Pilot"

The S.E.P.I.A. Project

The sea and the ocean remain the least explored components on Earth and we have no basic method dedicated to predicting its conditions. This is a problem on both environmental and tactical level. A thorough interpretation of the dynamics of the marine environment is key to the success missions. Of particular importance is the comprehension of the impact of the natural environment on the execution of naval operations as well as the interpretation of atmospheric and oceanic phenomena for the purpose of joint work between military forces as well as, for civil assistance. For example: special warfare operations are coordinated by fast and accurate information about the maritime environment. The underwater structure, which varies due to subtle changes in salinity, pressure and temperature, determines how sound travels through the water and thus negatively affects the use of sonars. 

Today's high-tech weapons require advanced environmental solutions to maximize the precision, avoiding damage to civilians, critical natural sites and valuable property. In coastal regions, the dynamics of sea weather and processes are closely intertwined and change rapidly both in space and time. Accurate short-term and long-term modelling can greatly contribute to the success of operations and studies. Despite advances in marine remote sensing, data from vast areas of coastal areas remains unfilled. In the future, military commanders will increasingly demand domain-specific data with extreme accuracy to improve the safety of civilians and optimize tactical decision-making. In addition, advances in computer technology are needed to analyze such data and improve predictions of environmental impacts on naval operations.

That is why we at Georgi Benkovski Bulgarian Air Force Academy took up the solution of these tasks, using a small device called "The S.E.P.I.A. Project". As small as it is, it hides the unravelling of underwater territories by measuring a variety of factors affecting the marine environment. "S.E.P.I.A." hides built-in matrix sensors attached to fibers extending from its interior, with the aim of greater area coverage. These sensors would measure precise parameters and the correlation between them. By embedding "S.E.P.I.A." across our maritime infrastructure, we could build a network of devices, which work as a system. The simple values will be sent to a common cloud, which measures all the data. From there, the data will be fed to software that works based on self-improving artificial intelligence and mathematical algorithms with already built-in models, predicting a complete picture from the aggregate of all measured values in real time. In this way, these small devices can contribute limited but accurate values in order to build a complete 3D nautical chart model. As that being said, we could save money and be invisible to enemies. Not only that, but are base method - sonars measure extremely accurately, but unfortunately data regarding a specific аrеа cannot be relied upon in case of need for accurate information, in a minimal amount of time. "S.E.P.I.A." solves this problem, as the devices maintain a constant level of surveillance on the overall situation of our maritime territories, as the EU satellites, which use COPERNICUS data and signals and could provide information to the public with minimal information loss. 

Not only that, but civil workers can constantly contribute to the software that supports the devices, through the already built-in models or if for some reason the event is not measured correctly and an error of data perception occurs, a new model can be set. Also, in a critical situation of an unknown or emergency data occurrence, the ergonomic factors are involved. In this way, a system can also be built to report dangerous or unrecognisable patterns. In the end, such a system could not only contribute with accurate information about the maritime environment when avoiding or reacting to a fatal situation, but also to recognize irregular or unusual events in favour of all of the challenges of specific regions, the nation and the EU.