Unattended luggage lying around an airport is sure to give passers-by the jitters, and it’s a hazardous task for even the bomb squad to inspect what could potentially be an explosion waiting to happen. Thankfully, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques (FHR), along with industry partners and criminal investigation authorities, have come up with a way to minimize the risk by creating a robot-mountable sensor system that allows specialists to scan a piece of luggage and get an accurate image of its contents.
With an accurate three-dimensional image of the object and surrounding area, authorities can quickly determine the danger and take action. Image source: Fraunhofer-Gesellchaft.
Not only could this contact-free detection system help specialists access dangers quickly, but it could also help to obtain vital evidence. The multi-modal sensor system consists of a high-resolution digital camera, a millimeter wave scanner, and a 3D environment monitoring system. Once it’s mounted on a robotic platform, investigators can control the bot remotely, directing it to luggage and using 3D sensors to completely survey the crime scene. The information it collects is sent to authorities via a built-in computer, providing them with a clear picture of what’s located inside an object.
“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,” said Stefan A. Lang, team leader at the FHR and the project's coordinator. “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.”
Pictured above is a fully-equipped luggage-inspecting robot in action. Image source: Fraunhofer-Gesellchaft.
By using a sensor that’s able to move along set trajectories, the millimeter wave scanner scans the luggage and the Doppler information generated is used create the high-resolution images. Because the sensor system is light, compact, and platform independent, it’s able to easily mount onto any robot.
Typically, bomb disposal engineers are forced to destroy luggage bombs, making identifying perpetrators difficult for evidence. With an accurate three-dimensional image of the bag and the surrounding area, authorities can quickly determine the danger and take action.
Currently the research team is expecting to demonstrate the millimeter wave scanner in April 2016, and field tests of the remote-controlled sensor suite will begin in mid-2017. As for the complete multi-modal sensor suite — it's expected to launch in 2019.
Source: Fraunhofer-Gesellchaft
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