INS Valsura is one of the oldest and most important training establishments of the Indian Navy, located in Jamnagar, Gujarat. It trains naval personnel in electrical, weapon electronics, and marine engineering disciplines, and functions as a defence campus with restricted movement of vehicles and personnel. Every vehicle that enters or exits the campus needs to be identified, verified, and logged — without slowing down daily operations or compromising security.
POXO designed and deployed a Dual-Authentication Automated Vehicle Access Control System (VACS) that verifies every vehicle two independent ways at once — an RFID windshield tag and an ANPR number-plate read — and lifts the boom barrier only when both checks agree.
The Challenge
Like most defence establishments, INS Valsura traditionally relied on manual verification at its entry and exit points. Security personnel would stop each vehicle, check identification, and manually raise the boom barrier before allowing entry. This method works, but it depends heavily on human attentiveness and creates a natural bottleneck during peak hours, when staff, service, and visitor vehicles all arrive within a short window.
Manual gate operations also make it harder to maintain a reliable, tamper-proof record of vehicle movement. For a defence campus, that record is not an administrative convenience — it is a security requirement. INS Valsura needed a system that could automatically recognise authorized vehicles, control the boom barrier without manual intervention, and still give security staff full oversight and override control at all times.
The POXO Solution: Dual-Authentication VACS
The word dual-authentication is the heart of this deployment. Instead of relying on a single method to confirm a vehicle’s identity, the system checks it two different ways simultaneously — and only opens the barrier when both agree. Every authorized entry still passes through a visible security checkpoint, but the routine work of identifying and clearing a known vehicle is now handled automatically.
RFID Windshield Tags
Every authorized vehicle is fitted with a unique passive RFID windshield tag. Each tag carries an identity linked to the vehicle and its owner in the system’s database, so the moment a vehicle approaches the gate it is recognized — no rolled-down windows, no cards shown.
ANPR Camera for the Second Check
Mounted alongside the RFID reader, an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) camera independently reads the number plate and checks it against the same authorized-vehicle database. If the RFID tag says one vehicle but the plate reads differently, the mismatch is flagged instead of waved through — closing the loophole a tag-only system would miss, such as a tag moved from one vehicle to another.
Fixed RFID Reader at the Gate
A P-12 fixed RFID reader at the entry point scans tags from a safe working distance, matches them against the authorized list, and passes the result to the control system within a fraction of a second, working in tandem with the ANPR camera.
Automatic Boom Barrier with Photocell Safety
Once both checks agree, the automatic boom barrier lifts on its own. Photocell sensors on either side of the gate detect if a vehicle, person, or object is still under the barrier and stop it from closing until the path is clear. If either check fails, the barrier stays down and the vehicle is redirected to manual verification — keeping a human checkpoint in place for anything the system flags.
RFID Smart Cards and Door Access Control for Personnel
Personnel movement is managed separately through RFID smart cards working with a door access controller at restricted entry points — controlling who can walk into sensitive areas independently of who can drive through the main gate, using the same RFID technology in card format.
Handheld Reader, Visitor QR Receipts, and Video Recording
- RFID Handheld Reader (HHT): lets guards scan a vehicle tag or staff card on the spot during checks and drills, away from the fixed gate reader.
- QR Receipt Scanner: visitor vehicles without a permanent tag receive a QR-coded receipt on entry, scanned at exit to confirm the same vehicle that entered is the one leaving.
- NVR Video Recording: all gate camera feeds, including ANPR, are recorded on a Network Video Recorder so any entry or exit can be reviewed later.
Built for the Field
Gate electronics are housed in a weatherproof outdoor cabinet rated for Jamnagar’s heat, dust, and monsoon. A UPS keeps the system verifying vehicles through power cuts, and PoE switches carry both data and power to cameras and readers over single network cables, keeping gate wiring simple to maintain. A dedicated server PC runs the POXO Dual-Auth VACS application — customized to fit INS Valsura’s existing security procedures rather than asking the establishment to change its process to fit the software.
How the System Works
As an authorized vehicle approaches, the RFID reader picks up the windshield tag while the ANPR camera reads the number plate. Both are checked against the registered-vehicle database, and only when tag and plate agree does the barrier lift automatically — the vehicle drives through without stopping. Staff badge through restricted doors with smart cards, guards carry the handheld reader for spot checks, and visitor vehicles are tracked by QR receipt from entry to exit.
Every event — a vehicle passing the barrier, a staff member badging through a door — is logged automatically on the server, and every camera view is saved on the NVR. INS Valsura now holds a complete, timestamped record of movement across the campus that would be very difficult to maintain accurately through manual registers.
Security Oversight and Manual Override
The system does not remove security personnel from the process — it supports them. Guards at the gate retain full manual override control over the barrier at all times and remain present for visual checks, exactly as required in a defence environment. The automation removes the repetitive part of the job — verifying vehicles that are already authorized — so staff attention stays focused on anything unusual.
Results and Impact
- Faster Gate Throughput: Authorized vehicles move through the gates without manual barrier operation, eliminating the routine-entry bottleneck at peak hours.
- Focused Security Attention: Staff now concentrate on genuine exceptions — unregistered vehicles and visitors — rather than re-verifying vehicles they already know.
- Closed Security Loophole: Dual authentication catches tag/plate mismatches that a tag-only system would miss.
- Tamper-Resistant Audit Trail: A complete digital log of vehicle and personnel movement supports the audit requirements of a defence installation.
Conclusion
The INS Valsura project shows how RFID and ANPR based dual-authentication can be adapted to a defence training establishment, where speed and convenience can never come at the cost of security discipline. By combining RFID vehicle tags, an ANPR camera, a fixed gate reader, and an automatic boom barrier with continued manual oversight, POXO delivered a system that makes daily vehicle movement faster and better documented — without changing the fundamental security posture of the campus.
This is the kind of access control POXO builds for sensitive government and defence sites: automation that speeds up day-to-day operations while keeping human security personnel firmly in control of every decision that matters. Explore our smart parking and visitor management solutions, or talk to our team about securing your facility.