THE PRESENT INVENTION RELATES TO AN AUTOMATED SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM FOR COT FOR MONITORING AN INFANT OR CHILD. THE SAID AUTOMATED SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM COMPRISES OF AN ADEQUATELY POSITIONED VIDEO CAMERA (10), AN ADEQUATELY POSITIONED LIGHT SOURCE (12) AND WHEREIN PROCESSING THE RESULTING INFORMATION VIA INNOVATIVE COMPUTER VISION ALGORITHMS AND WHEREIN THE POSITIONING OF THE LIGHT SOURCE (12) AND CAMERA (10) ARE SUCH THAT IT WOULD MAKE EFFECT OF A SHADOW MAGNIFICATION FOR PROCESSING PURPOSE. THE LIGHT SOURCE IS POSITIONED AT A DISTANCE FROM THE INFANT OR CHILD TO CREATE A SHADOW BEHIND THE INFANT OR CHILD, AND THE VIDEO CAMERA MONITORS THE MOVEMENT OF SHADOW CREATED. FIGURE 3