Abandoned items of luggage are frequently found at airports and train stations. This is a case for the emergency services, who have to assume that these items might contain bombs. They must assess the potential threat quickly, avert any possible danger, and preserve evidence for criminal proceedings. In the future, police will have the support of a remote-controlled sensor system as they go about their duties. Fraunhofer researchers are developing this sensor suite in cooperation with industry partners and criminal investigation authorities.
Anyone who forgets their luggage in public places, airports or train stations will spark off a large-scale police operation. Time and again, suitcases, bags or backpacks left lying around unsupervised cause a bomb alert. Admittedly, most abandoned luggage items turn out to be harmless. But in the first instance the emergency services have to proceed on the assumption of possible danger and check whether they are dealing with an improvised explosive device (IED) that might blow up at any time. This involves getting up close to the luggage to inspect it. A system that makes it possible to assess the danger of the situation quickly – and also records 3D images of the contents and shape of the luggage as well as of the surrounding area – would make the specialists’ work considerably easier, speed up the reconnaissance process, and minimize the risk for the emergency personnel.
Since November 2014, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHR in Wachtberg have been developing such a system together with the North Rhine-Westphalia State Office of Criminal Investigation, the Leibnitz University in Hannover, ELP GmbH and Hentschel System GmbH. The German Federal Office of Criminal Investigation in Wiesbaden and the German Federal Police Force are supporting the project as additional expert consultants. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research is funding the USBV Inspector project with a grant of two million euros as part of its Research for Civil Security program.
Emergency services do not have to enter the danger zone
The system the researchers have developed comprises a multimodal sensor suite consisting of a millimeter wave scanner, a high-resolution digital camera, and a 3D environment monitoring system. The components are contained in a housing and mounted on a robot platform. Bomb disposal engineers remotely control the robot from a safe distance. Its swiveling 3D sensors make a three-dimensional survey of the crime scene, and the digital camera provides high-resolution images for later optical evidence preservation. Meanwhile the millimeter wave sensor scans the source of danger and creates an image of what’s inside. A built-in embedded PC on the robot collects the data and sends it to the investigators, where it will be merged on the computer by means of sensor data fusion.
Three-dimensional survey of suitcase bomb contents
“Up to now our techniques have not allowed us to form a 3D outline of suitcase bombs, and it has been impossible – or only partially possible – to make a spatial map of the contents. With the sensor suite we can visualize in three dimensions what’s inside a luggage item, and so determine the composition of the bomb and how the parts are arranged in the luggage,” explains Stefan A. Lang, team leader at the FHR and the project’s coordinator. This lets the explosives experts quickly assess the threat, and going forward they will also be able to preserve as much evidence as possible about the bomb. Until now, specialists were often forced to destroy suitcase bombs – making it difficult to identify the perpetrators. Other advantages of the contact-free detection system: it is light, compact, and platform independent, which means it can be mounted on any robot.
Within the project, the FHR researchers are developing the millimeter wave scanner (also referred to as a radar sensor) for fast reconnaissance. This scanner allows a very high depth resolution. “For the radar we make use of the synthetic aperture radar, or SAR, principle, by which the sensor is moved along a trajectory, a kind of track – from left to right in front of the case, for example – and the Doppler information generated in the process is used to create an image,” explains Lang. Apart from the research work on the sensor, the expert and his team are also looking into ways of determining the optimum trajectory for surveying an object. This depends on the shape of the luggage item or container, its position in the environment, and the position of the robot.
A radar sensor demonstrator will be ready in April 2016. Extensive field tests of the remote-controlled sensor suite begin in the middle of 2017, with the multimodal sensor suite set to be launched in 2019.
Read more: Remote-controlled robot inspects suitcase bombs
The Latest on: Remote-controlled robot
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Remote-controlled robot” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Remote-controlled robot
- RUET students develop bomb-disposal robot for Bangladesh Armyon May 5, 2024 at 1:49 pm
A team of students from the Mechatronics Engineering Department of Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (RUET) has developed a remote-controlled bomb disposal robot for the Bangladesh ...
- Towngas’ pipeline robot gains recognition in inaugural OSH Innovation & Technology Award for eliminating confined space work riskson May 5, 2024 at 1:45 am
Safety concerns related to working in confined spaces have raised significant attention in the industry. The Hong Kong and ...
- In a 1st, robots to lead fire control ops at not ‘easily accessible sites’on April 29, 2024 at 3:46 pm
State fire department set to introduce remote-controlled robots for fire-fighting in locations like chemical factories and godowns. Robots can rotate 360 degrees, rise to 24 meters, and have sensors ...
- Ohio company hawks fire-breathing robot dog that can torch anything in its pathon April 25, 2024 at 12:07 pm
Ohio-based company Throwflame has created a robotic dog named the Thermonator that is capable of emitting 30-foot jets of fire.
- Would You Buy This Flamethrowing Robot Dog?on April 24, 2024 at 3:50 pm
You can now have your very own flame-throwing robot. It's called the “Thermonator” and the remote-control robot dog just hit the market with a price tag of $9,420. It has a built-in tank for gasoline ...
- Flame-throwing robot dog that can torch anything in its path goes on saleon April 24, 2024 at 6:28 am
A flame-throwing robotic dog invented by a company in the United States has gone on sale. Named the “Thermonator”, the remote-controlled device is priced at $9,420 (£7,600). It has been designed by ...
- ‘World’s 1st’ flamethrower robot dog gets remote control and LiDARon April 24, 2024 at 3:50 am
A flame-throwing robot dog that can shoot blazes up to 30 feet (9 meters) is up for sale in the United States. Throwflame, the manufacturer, claims the robot dog is the first of its kind and has a ...
- World's first robot dog with a flamethrower is now available to purchaseon April 24, 2024 at 1:16 am
Thermonator, the world's first flamethrower-wielding robot dog which can shoot a stream of fire 30 feet, is now available to purchase.
- You can now buy a flame-throwing robot dog for under $10,000on April 23, 2024 at 2:27 pm
If you've been wondering when you'll be able to order the flame-throwing robot that Ohio-based Throwflame first announced last summer, that day has finally arrived. The Thermonator, what Throwflame ...
- The Mammotion Luba 2 Is a Fantastic (If Expensive) Robot Lawn Moweron April 23, 2024 at 8:00 am
The Mammotion Luba 2 robot lawn mower is a great product. It mowed with accuracy and consistency, rarely deterred by irregularities like dips, hills, holes or obstacles.
via Bing News