Stopping Cars With Microwave Radiation 522
Ponca City, We Love You writes "Researchers have created an electromagnetic system that can quickly bring a vehicle to a stop by sending out pulses of microwave radiation to disable the microprocessors that control the central engine functions in a car. A 200-pound unit attached to the roof of a police car can be used to stop fleeing and noncooperative vehicles. The average power emitted in a single shot is about 10 kilowatts at 100 hertz and since each radiated pulse lasts about 50 nanoseconds, the total energy output is 100 joules at a distance of 15 meters. One concern with the device is that it could cause an accident if a car is disabled and a driver loses steering control. The device could also disable other vehicles in the area so the most practical application may be for perimeter protection at remote areas. Criminals have a work-around too. Since electronic control modules were not built into most cars until 1972, the system will not work on automobiles made before that year."
Can't stop a Diesel (Score:2, Insightful)
Faraday cage (Score:5, Insightful)
Also, are these rays energetic enough for, say, crowd control? And what if the cops are chasing someone with a pacemaker?
Collateral Damage? (Score:5, Insightful)
So when there is a chase in a populated area, the cops will leave a wake of disabled cars? That will be fun to clean up later...
Re:Faraday cage (Score:5, Insightful)
Then the cops involved are suspended with pay during the official investigation, which will find that the cops could not be reasonably expected to have known that the person had a pacemaker, so they will be off the hook, AS USUAL.
Re:Steering? (Score:3, Insightful)
That'd be pretty exciting.
Re:Faraday cage (Score:3, Insightful)
And no, not enough power for crowd control, but I think it would stand a good chance of messing with a pacemaker.
Simple circuits defeat this (Score:4, Insightful)
In all: bad idea. Instead, put unique RFIDs in cars, and simply logon and turn them off. Cleaner.
200 pounds (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Faraday cage (Score:2, Insightful)
And people will agree with that outcome since the person who died was "disobeying a police office", a crime so serious it certainly deserves summary execution without trial.
Re:What happens when... (Score:5, Insightful)
Perhaps not funny.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Killing the CPU that controls the brakes, or randomly firing an airbag/ gearbox system, might not be clever either.
As reported in The Register, this is all likely to be shit of the bull and more useful for military use than police use.
Will it will have FCC Approval? (Score:2, Insightful)
"This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and
(2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation." http://www.fcc.gov/oet/ea/labels.html [fcc.gov]
I Do Not think the FCC had in mind 10,000 Watt RF pulses for the "must accept any interference" clause.
I consider this a device with high problematic potential for numerous electrical devices at distances farther away than 15m. HAM Radio Operators in the US are limited to emissions of up to 1.5 kilowatts PEP (and 2.25 kilowatts PEP in Canada) of Electromagnetic Radiation on specific frequency ranges.
It is hard to fully imagine the interference that a device that emits 10,000 Watt pulses of Microwaves could do...
Imagine if it went off near a Datacenter... Imagine if it went off near a Hospital ICU or ER?
For that matter it could be used in the hands of "terrorists" to disrupt all sorts of sensitive electronic devices...
I can not imagine that this device would be something which US Government would allow to be be used in-country by any of its civilian law-enforcement agencies.
NOTE: MICROWAVE Radiation is NOT in the "100 hertz" range. It is in the 300 MHz to 300 GHz range. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave [wikipedia.org]
The "100 hertz" frequency falls into the Bass hearing range of Sound Waves, NOT Microwaves...
Besides, 10,000W at 100 hertz is close enough to the 12-14 hertz "brown sound" that may actually be more effective stopping drivers of suspect vehicles... http://othermag.org/brownnoise.php [othermag.org]
Great, Now "terrorists" are going to attempt to wire a series of 10 (easily obtained) 1,000 Watt 2450MHz microwave oven Magnetrons (powered by a 10 kilowatt inverter/capacitor/generator) on top their cars to pulse unsuspecting targets... -Z http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave_oven [wikipedia.org]
Re:Steering? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:What happens when... (Score:5, Insightful)
Problem is, MOST of the car chases you see on TV are:
1) Drunks or druggies, not in their right minds
2) Car thieves (not riding their own wheels anyway)
3) Suicide-by-cop idiots, who WANT to be killed, not stopped safely
Okay, fine, the really intelligent criminals might be able to prevent themselves from being stopped this way. Granted. But the really intelligent criminal is NOT going to find himself involved in a car chase anyway, because he's too smart to let that happen.
Frankly, I've wondered for years why they didn't do something like this. Or mount a piton system in the front of your average police cruiser, that could pneumatically or explosively shoot out a grappling hook that stabbed thru the trunk of the fleeing vehicle and drag it to a stop. Most police chases involve very close pursuit at reasonably slow speeds - so why not nail the guy's trunk and drag him to a halt, instead of trying to PITT him and risking all kinds of damage to both vehicles?
So I'm happy to finally see this kind of technology under real development.
And for those of you who are worried about innocent bystanders, remember that EMF falls off as the square of distance. Whatever power kills a car 45 feet away (100 joules) probably won't even blip an engine 450 feet away (1 joule). There will be plenty of chances in most car chases to SAFELY utilize these things.
https://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=409268 [google.com]
This is the dumbest idea I've heard all week. (Score:2, Insightful)
Honestly, shooting at tires sounds about as reasonable. And less expensive, too. --As long as we're looking at dumb ideas, why not just endorse that scheme which would require the outfitting of all cars with state-controlled kill switches?
In my mind, the last really good tech idea brought to police forces was the walkie-talkie. Even the humble taser is earning a bad reputation, with its ever-growing list of abuses and unintended fatalities.
I can't wait to see how things will devolve with the introduction of the 'pain raygun'.
What's wrong with regular detective work, exactly? Seems effective enough to me. --What with the U.S. having by far the highest percentage of its population behind bars as compared to every other developed nation on the entire planet.
Yeah. That little detail.
-FL
Re:Concerns are quite valid (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:What happens when... (Score:3, Insightful)
What about all other electronics? (Score:3, Insightful)
I have no idea what offence would justify the use of this gadget. Going 1 mph over the limit?
Looking for really, really ignorant investors? (Score:5, Insightful)
Fraud Alert. Fraud Alert. Fraud Alert.
Read the first comment to the article: "What happens to the pacemaker in the guy driving? Does speeding become a death sentence?"
Another comment: "If there are innocent victims in such incidents - such as hostages - how are you going to microwave the car without hurting the people?"
What about reflections? Fried police car, anyone? "I just looove the smell of burning plastic in the morning"?
I think November 13 is a little early for April Fool's day.
Quote: "These pulses are amplified to 640 kilovolts..."
Did you see the red whiskery antennas that extend in front of the car? Criminal: "There's that dorky police car again. Turn right. Microwaves only go straight." Or, are those not antennas, but an artist's rendering of microwave flames shooting from the top of the police car?
From the article: "The system has been tested on a variety of stationary vehicles and could be ready for deployment in automobiles within 18 months..."
Translations: 1) It hasn't been tested in heavy traffic. 2) As soon as we find some really, really, really dumb people with money to invest, something could happen.
Moral of the story: There is no time to play video games. You need all your time to learn about the world around you, not about fantasies. If you spend all your time with fantasies, anyone can tell you anything, and you won't be able to evaluate if it is the truth.
Quote from the story: "Finally, a specially designed antenna beams the microwave energy toward an opposing vehicle through a part of the car, such as the windshield, window, grill, or spacing between the hood and main body, that is not made of metal. (Metal acts as a shield against microwave energy.)"
Ohhhhh. It must be an opposing car, not one going in the same direction. The car must have no mirror-like surfaces. There must be holes. It can't be a camper going in the same direction.
Has no one who already commented on this story heard of firewalls, the kind in cars? Has anyone heard about tight-fitting hoods? Does the invention work only with hoopties [urbandictionary.com]?
Is it really true that no one who reads Slashdot has looked at the insides of a car? Does this "invention" work only with cars that don't have electronics shielded with a metal covering?
Those dumb car makers never heard of electromagnetic noise? Even though spark plug wires have 40,000 volts? Car computers have no shielding?
Re:What happens when... (Score:3, Insightful)
Go back to carburetors and distributors, I guess. Modern cars are nice, but I miss being able to do my own auto tune-ups.
Actually this theme reminds me of the old Gordon Dickson "Dorsai" novels, where countermeasures were so sophisticated that people went to "spring rifles" because they were hard to jam. I remember thinking that was a great convergence of complexity and simplicity. And I remember my father telling me about how WWII German technology was unbeatable by anything except their own sophistication.
Wrong side of clever? It's a theme I see daily in the bigger IT shops. Australians have a phrase for it -- "too clever by half".
Re:What happens when... (Score:1, Insightful)
worse than criminals (Score:1, Insightful)
Bikes (Score:1, Insightful)
hell, even Harleys are now coming with fuel injection, ABS, and other fun stuff.
So do you get any notice, like when it's time to switch to reserve, so you can death-grab the clutch;
or do you just go flying over the handlebars?
(I'm talking about just being in RANGE, not being the actual target, but close enough to get some side-soakage-emp-damage).
Great another TASER type weapon for Abuse (Score:2, Insightful)
First we all know how easy it is for Cops to misuse a device which gives them instant control over a situation. Look at how many time we hear about some Grandmother being TASED. How long do you think it will take before they start zappin cars for speeding? How about failing to clear a lane fast enough when they are trying to get through. What about residual damage to a car? The radio, your beloved iPOD, cellphone and laptop. How about the home of the innocent bystander that happens to be in path of the beam. Yes, I know that the power dissipates quickly with range but I have watched COPS and seen perps driving through someone's backyard too.
We should start selling devices to detect this type of RF burst, so innocent people can make claims against the Police Department that fried their iPod. Do you even think this device will work in a COP car. the have computers and radios galore. I was told by a cop that he can't even jump start a car anymore due to potential damage to his electronics.
YA Right, it is the same type of vapor ware as the fabled "Lightning Gun IED destroyer"
let's get to the heart of the topic... (Score:2, Insightful)