Kansas researcher’s develop new tech to remotely detect hidden explosives

A new technology developed by an engineer at Kansas State University is claimed to boost military security, as well as remotely detect hidden explosives such as nitrogen-rich explosives, while also assist police in drug related searches.

Claimed to detect explosives hidden underground or in car trunks, the new template-based system called signature-based radiation scanning works like a bar code to determine the presence of explosives.

Currently capable of working for distances between one and three metres away, the unmanned system could further be modified to detect substances other than nitrogen-rich explosives such as detecting drugs through airport security or other points of border entry.

However, researchers are considering making the system to work effectively at distances as far as 100m, which is nearly the length of a football field.

Kansas State University mechanical and nuclear engineering department head William Dunn said that the latest equipment is mainly targeted at keeping people out of harm’s way.

"The work focuses on quickly detecting improvised explosive devices as far away as possible," Dunn said.

The new system alerts soldiers with red, green or yellow light signals about the presence of nitrogen-rich explosives, no presence nitrogen-rich explosives and probable existence respectively.

"We are looking at what is the minimum number of templates we can have in our library that would differentiate the largest number of IEDs from inert targets," Dunn added.