DARPA wants to see through walls and smell like a dog
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has recently funded a pair of sensor programs that look to extend the senses of ISR systems even further - looking deep into buildings and creating an artificial "dog's nose" sensor to sniff out explosives.
One project, announced on Oct. 10, is Harnessing Infrastructure for Building Reconnaissance. While another DARPA project is developing radar that can see into buildings, this project is focused on using the parts of a building itself - ventilation systems, electrical systems, plumbing and structure itself - to gather information about the buildings interior and "structural awareness" of the building for tactical use.
SAIC has just received a contract under another DARPA project, called RealNose, to develop a sensor based upon the capabilities of the canine sense of smell - in other words, to create an artificial bomb sniffing dog. Using olfactory receptors, signal transduction and pattern recognition to identify odors, the sensor could help protect soldiers by detecting explosives, and chemical or biological weapons.
Posted by Sean Gallagher on Oct 21, 2008 at 8:12 AM