On July 25, 2000, an Air France Concorde ran over a piece of titanium debris while taking off from Charles de Gaulle International Airport. Minutes later 113 people perished in a ball of fire.
Most airports rely on visual inspections to keep runways clear of foreign objects and prevent what happened in France, but Heathrow International Airport, the world's busiest, has now installed a permanent dual radar system called the Tarsier, which scans 3,658 meters of runway in search of junk 24 hours a day.
(Credit:
QinetiQ)
The Tarsier uses networked high-frequency, high-resolution radar and integrated digital signal processing to pinpoint anything from a pigeon to a cellophane sandwich wrapper (PDF).
Foreign object damage, or "FOD," is responsible for $60 million worth of damage a year, an average of $15,000 per aircraft for each major airline in the U.S. alone, according to the FAA (PDF).
FOD can be caused by wildlife, stray tools, pieces of rubber, or any other imaginable debris strewn across a runway. A rock sucked into a jet engine can "shred turbine blades in a matter of seconds," the FAA says.
The system allows automated runway inspections around the clock, rain or shine, and with no disruption to airport traffic, according to the manufacturer, QinetiQ. It can be further enhanced with cameras that allow remote visual confirmation of debris.
The smallest item detected to date is a 10-millimeter metal fitting in an area the size of 30 football fields, the company says. Once an object is found, Tarsier reports its latitude and longitude to within 3 meters via GPS.
The system has also been tested in Dubai, Amsterdam, Vancouver, and Sydney, according to QinetiQ. The U.S. Air Force has used the equipment as well.
"I believe that this system will become the international standard in the next 5 to 10 years and other airports will follow suit," said Brett Patterson of the Vancouver International Airport Authority.
The Army has turned to a Honolulu company for Doppler radar and advanced algorithm technology to be able to detect and monitor multiple subjects based on their heart rate, even through walls.
(Credit:
Kai Sensors)
This means that soldiers will be able to detect someone hiding in a room before the door is kicked in, the company claims, and medics will be able to remotely perform triage and diagnoses or monitor casualties right through their flack jackets. It may also have homeland security and interrogation applications by allowing personnel to screen and identify individuals who may merit the third degree based on a guilty heart rate.
Kai Sensors' proprietary radar technology called LifeReader accurately detects and monitors heart and respiration activity wirelessly, remotely and with no contact with the subjects by using microwave, Doppler radar and digital signal processing, according to the company. LifeReader is the product of four years of research at the University of Hawaii's electrical engineering department.
The Defense Department has been experimenting with variations of this concept for years. For example, the U.S. Army Institute for Surgical Research has tested a "scancorder" that incorporated a micro-impulse radar developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in New Mexico that would allow medics to detect a victim's heart and lung movement through up to 20 feet of rubble.
At some point this technology could be incorporated into cars as a sophisticated baby monitor, which would mean no more excuses for leaving your kid in the car.
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