Project: SAFEGUARD HERITAGE IN ENDANGERED LOOTED DISTRICTS

Acronym	SHIELD (Reference Number: JPICH-0085)
Duration	01/05/2020 - 30/04/2022
Project Topic	The loss of archaeological heritage continues today at a constant pace, both due to natural disasters and human-made actions. However, distressingly a significant proportion of the ongoing destruction is brought about by looters and illegal and destructive excavations. This problem is by no means a new one. However, it is one that has grown more acute in recent decades, especially in those areas deemed unsafe due to ongoing conflicts but also in archaeological sites spread in European countries, where the control cannot be accurately guaranteed due to lack of men resources, funds or adequate technologies.The Safeguard Heritage In Endangered Looted Districts (SHIELD) Project aims at designing and building an artificially intelligent Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) to patrol archaeological and heritage sites using the latest technologies in imaging techniques, live data streaming, decentralized (onboard) processing, Machine Learning, and flight data management.The customized surveillance device is expected to be autonomously deployed from a ground station (helipad) on scheduled operations both during night and day routine flights. The system is foreseen to take-off, patrol a targeted area, stream live data, land, recharge the batteries and stand-by for the next scheduled operation. The final goals are represented by the identification of looting activities in real-time, the collection of data for monitoring purposes on the medium and long-term period and the creation of a deterrence strategy to target specific criminal behaviour.SHIELD has been built around the scope and objectives of the JPICH call aiming to address different thematic areas. SHIELD final goal is to develop a new tool purposely tailored for its integration into thematic policies and strategies for the protection of cultural heritage, implemented by the relevant stakeholders such as Departments of Antiquities and Police Corps.
Project Results (after finalisation)	https://shield.cyi.ac.cy/#info
Network	JPI Cultural Heritage
Call	Joint research on conservation, protection and use of cultural heritage

Project partner

Number	Name	Role	Country
1	The CYPRUS Institute	Coordinator	Cyprus
2	Bruno Kessler Foundation	Partner	Italy
3	Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science	Partner	Portugal