Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

New Device Will Sense Through Concrete Walls
American Forces Press Service ^ | Jan 3, 2005 | Donna Miles

Posted on 01/03/2006 4:23:08 PM PST by SandRat

WASHINGTON, Jan. 3, 2006 – Troops conducting urban operations soon will have the capabilities of superheroes, being able to sense through 12 inches of concrete to determine if someone is inside a building.

The new "Radar Scope" will give warfighters searching a building the ability to tell within seconds if someone is in the next room, Edward Baranoski from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Special Projects Office, told the American Forces Press Service.

By simply holding the portable, handheld device up to a wall, users will be able to detect movements as small as breathing, he said.

The Radar Scope, developed by DARPA, is expected to be fielded to troops in Iraq as soon as this spring, Baranoski said. The device is likely to be fielded to the squad level, for use by troops going door to door in search of terrorists.

The Radar Scope will give warfighters the capability to sense through a foot of concrete and 50 feet beyond that into a room, Baranoski explained.

It will bring to the fight what larger, commercially available motion detectors couldn't, he said. Weighing just a pound and a half, the Radar Scope will be about the size of a telephone handset and cost just about $1,000, making it light enough for a soldier to carry and inexpensive enough to be fielded widely.

The Radar Scope will be waterproof and rugged, and will run on AA batteries, he said.

"It may not change how four-man stacks go into a room (during clearing operations)," Baranoski said. "But as they go into a building, it can help them prioritize what rooms they go into. It will give them an extra degree of knowledge so they know if someone is inside."

Even as the organization hurries to get the devices to combat forces, DARPA already is laying groundwork for bigger plans that build on this technology.

Proposals are expected this week for the new "Visi Building" technology that's more than a motion detector. It will actually "see" through multiple walls, penetrating entire buildings to show floor plans, locations of occupants and placement of materials such as weapons caches, Baranoski said.

"It will give (troops) a lot of opportunity to stake out buildings and really see inside," he said. "It will go a long way in extending their surveillance capabilities."

The device is expected to take several years to develop. Ultimately, servicemembers will be able to use it simply by driving or flying by the structure under surveillance, Baranoski said.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: concrete; device; gnfi; new; porkys; sense; terahertzwaves; through; walls; will
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-5051-100101-114 next last

1 posted on 01/03/2006 4:23:10 PM PST by SandRat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: 2LT Radix jr; 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub; 80 Square Miles; A Ruckus of Dogs; acad1228; AirForceMom; ..

RADAR in your pocket PING


2 posted on 01/03/2006 4:23:42 PM PST by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SandRat

Oh, the RATS will have a problem with this one.


3 posted on 01/03/2006 4:25:25 PM PST by TommyDale
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: SandRat

Your Democrats and ACLU will probably demand that need warrants approved by a judge before they can be used.


4 posted on 01/03/2006 4:26:11 PM PST by Aussiebabe
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SandRat

That's what we need to win the WOT--more cool high-tech toys (and fewer Democrats).


5 posted on 01/03/2006 4:26:28 PM PST by rightwingintelligentsia
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: PatrickHenry; b_sharp; neutrality; anguish; SeaLion; Fractal Trader; grjr21; bitt; KevinDavis; ...
FutureTechPing!
An emergent technologies list covering biomedical
research, fusion power, nanotech, AI robotics, and
other related fields. FReepmail to join or drop.

6 posted on 01/03/2006 4:26:57 PM PST by AntiGuv (™)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SandRat

The question is: will it sense through bikinis?


7 posted on 01/03/2006 4:26:57 PM PST by Revolting cat! ("In the end, nothing explains anything.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SandRat
The rats truly can't hide now, and ya just know more proactive protection is on the way. The enemy ain't seen nothin' yet, as we say in the South.
8 posted on 01/03/2006 4:27:29 PM PST by conservativecorner
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SandRat

a window? already been done


9 posted on 01/03/2006 4:28:34 PM PST by InvisibleChurch (The search for someone to blame is always successful. - Robert Half)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SandRat
Coming soon to the FBI and your local police department.

Homeland security and all that. Please stay in view, citizen.

10 posted on 01/03/2006 4:28:36 PM PST by Wormwood (Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SandRat
Should help out with the concussion grenade budget....
11 posted on 01/03/2006 4:30:10 PM PST by Cyber Liberty (© 2006, Ravin' Lunatic since 4/98)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Revolting cat!

12"-thick bikinis!? No thanks!


12 posted on 01/03/2006 4:30:11 PM PST by hollywood (Stay on topic, please.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: hollywood

12-inch thick concrete bikinis, no less! Sounds like it would complement a 'concrete overshoes' based ensemble.


13 posted on 01/03/2006 4:34:12 PM PST by Riley ("Bother" said Pooh, as he fired the Claymores.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: TommyDale

What problem? If it is a radar, then by using aluminum foil for a wallpaper [and lining the floors and ceilings as well], the radar would be defeated.


14 posted on 01/03/2006 4:34:46 PM PST by GSlob
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: SandRat

It sounds great!


15 posted on 01/03/2006 4:36:18 PM PST by HuntsvilleTxVeteran (“Don't approach a Bull from the front, a Horse from the back, or a Fool from any side.”)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GSlob

"If it is a radar, then by using aluminum foil for a wallpaper [and lining the floors and ceilings as well], the radar would be defeated."

I believe I've read about you before, but I think it was microwave thought control at the time, lol.


16 posted on 01/03/2006 4:39:34 PM PST by RegulatorCountry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Revolting cat!

Detects silicone at 500 feet.


17 posted on 01/03/2006 4:39:35 PM PST by MARTIAL MONK
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Aussiebabe
Your Democrats and ACLU will probably demand that need warrants approved by a judge before they can be used.

The dems have never been much for Constitutional protections except for show when a repub is president. I'm a libertarian, though, and I have a problem with warrantless searches. They are prohibited by the Fourth Amendment. If necessary, pass a new Amendment or declare martial law. That would be the Constitutional way to do warrantless searches.
18 posted on 01/03/2006 4:42:26 PM PST by mysterio
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: SandRat
It will give (troops) a lot of opportunity to stake out buildings (i.e. the female shower tent)and really see inside"

The troops are going to have some fun with those. Now, for $1000 apiece, where can I get one...........

19 posted on 01/03/2006 4:49:50 PM PST by Sarajevo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mysterio
pass a new Amendment

Leave it alone. Libs drive me bonkers. I hope I die before there is another Amendment to the United States Constitution othe than repealling the tax confiscation amendment passed almost 100 years ago.

20 posted on 01/03/2006 4:50:36 PM PST by Cobra64
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: SandRat

This is old news...my wife knows what I'm doing no matter how thick my walls are, and no matter what they are made out of...if I knew it was important to Darpa, I would have hooked her up...


21 posted on 01/03/2006 5:01:13 PM PST by LachlanMinnesota (The real Churchill knew a blood thirsty gutter snipe when he saw one.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mysterio

Just curious but if a group of old men (who are most likely on the take of special interests groups) approved a resolution granting warrantless searches, you'd welcome it? How about if the parties involved were not charged with a crime but instead were deported?


22 posted on 01/03/2006 5:04:52 PM PST by Normal4me
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: Cobra64

Well, there's been a (at least)60 year movement to bypass probable cause and warrants in general. They invented "no expectation of privacy" and other madness that's certainly not footnoted after the Bill of Rights in invisible ink. You cannot sidestep the Constitution with regular law. It takes an Amendment or a formal suspension of civil liberties, like martial law. If they want to have searches without warrants, then they need to have to jump through the hoops to make and Amendment. It's difficult to do and was intended to be difficult. I don't want a new Amendment. But if they want warrantless searches, that's what it's going to take. People here don't want dems to have powers like that. I agree, and I don't want Republicans to have those powers, either.


23 posted on 01/03/2006 5:05:06 PM PST by mysterio
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Normal4me

No, I would fight it tooth and nail. But at least it would be honest. Changing the Constitution is preferable to sidestepping it and thereby weakening all of the Bill of Rights.


24 posted on 01/03/2006 5:06:12 PM PST by mysterio
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: SandRat

Keep the Clintoons away from it or the Red Chinese will be fielding one of their own before very long.


25 posted on 01/03/2006 5:23:48 PM PST by BenLurkin (O beautiful for patriot dream - that sees beyond the years)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GSlob
What problem? If it is a radar, then by using aluminum foil for a wallpaper [and lining the floors and ceilings as well], the radar would be defeated.

An EE you arent'. Any wave penetrating 12" of concrete isn't simply going to refelect off of tinfoil. Running on you assumption though. You alternate between using the radar and the microwaves. Terrorists in the foil enclosed houses would be "Fun to pop".

26 posted on 01/03/2006 5:38:55 PM PST by SampleMan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: TommyDale
Oh, the RATS will have a problem with this one.

The 'rats aren't the only people who have "a problem" with this. This is just fine for military use, but you know that the cops are going to want to use it too.

They bloody well better need a warrant, and even more bloody well better prosecuted for violation of civil rights under colour of the law if they use it without one.

27 posted on 01/03/2006 5:49:40 PM PST by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: AntiGuv
Please put me on your Emerging Technologies list.

I'm getting creeped out nearly every month with what I'm reading in Wired magazine.

Technology against the enemy is great as long as you aren't considered the enemy. The world and what is considered "privacy" is going to look a lot different in less than ten years.

28 posted on 01/03/2006 5:50:05 PM PST by nicolezmomma
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: SandRat
will give warfighters searching a building the ability to tell within seconds if someone is in the next room,

This also works almost as well. You won't know if someone is in the next room but it won't matter if they were anyway.


29 posted on 01/03/2006 5:52:03 PM PST by festus (The constitution may be flawed but its a whole lot better than what we have now.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SandRat

But who gets it first, our troops overseas, or the local cops looking to see what you may own?

This will be the death of the Fourth Amendment and any pretense of personal privacy.

No SARC tag, I mean it.


30 posted on 01/03/2006 6:05:54 PM PST by Richard-SIA ("The natural progress of things is for government to gain ground and for liberty to yield" JEFFERSON)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RegulatorCountry

"I believe I've read about you before" - About me? I'm neither rich nor famous [not even notorious] enough to be written about. Must be some namesake.


31 posted on 01/03/2006 6:17:56 PM PST by GSlob
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: GSlob

"Must be some namesake."

It was an attempted joke about you being a tinfoiler.


32 posted on 01/03/2006 6:19:39 PM PST by RegulatorCountry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: SampleMan

"Terrorists in the foil enclosed houses would be "Fun to pop"

Jiffy-Pop Jihad.


33 posted on 01/03/2006 6:21:29 PM PST by RegulatorCountry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: SampleMan

A small handheld device, such as the one described, would not be powerful enough to pop anything. And one does not even need to reflect the wave - just attenuating it and dissipating a lot of its energy ought to be enough. Besides, one might use thicker foil, or even sheet metal.


34 posted on 01/03/2006 6:24:08 PM PST by GSlob
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: GSlob
What problem? If it is a radar, then by using aluminum foil for a wallpaper [and lining the floors and ceilings as well], the radar would be defeated.

Leave your head-gear out of this ;-)

Cheers!

35 posted on 01/03/2006 6:28:59 PM PST by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

Hey, Bill already wants his own private version for personal use to .... well you know.


36 posted on 01/03/2006 6:39:59 PM PST by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: SandRat

And some police force will start using these things soon as well. I wonder what the shielding is for something like this?


37 posted on 01/03/2006 6:45:06 PM PST by Centurion2000 (Conservative, a liberal that was mugged. Liberal, a conservative that was arrested.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SandRat; All
There is a large difference between sensing something/someone thru a wall and seeing them.

This technology has been around about 5 years. Google micropulse radar.

38 posted on 01/03/2006 6:56:05 PM PST by PeaceBeWithYou (De Oppresso Liber! (50 million and counting in Afganistan and Iraq))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: PeaceBeWithYou

Dang,... and BJC thought they'd finally perfected those XRay glasses in the back of the Comic Books.


39 posted on 01/03/2006 6:57:44 PM PST by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]

To: GSlob
A small handheld device, such as the one described, would not be powerful enough to pop anything. And one does not even need to reflect the wave - just attenuating it and dissipating a lot of its energy ought to be enough. Besides, one might use thicker foil, or even sheet metal.

The bit about "fun to pop" was a joke. Your not getting it might indicate that you really are an EE. In which case, you would know that attenuating the radar wave has much more to do with matching a harmonic of the wave's length with a section of metal, acting as a dipole. This is how a handful of fiber/foil can have the radar cross section of a 747. It is also why a truck load of the stuff cut at the wrong length will have very little RCS. Covering your house with tinfoil might or might not have that effect. There's just one way to know. I recommend that you buy the Reynold's Wrap in the 200' rolls.

40 posted on 01/03/2006 7:08:57 PM PST by SampleMan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: RegulatorCountry; GSlob
Jiffy-Pop Jihad.

Thankfully, the joke wasn't completely lost.

41 posted on 01/03/2006 7:10:40 PM PST by SampleMan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: AntiGuv

please put me on your ping list. Very good stuff.


42 posted on 01/03/2006 7:45:19 PM PST by gaijin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: TommyDale

The RATS will point out that these devices are being operated without a warrant and represent a severe violation of privacy.


43 posted on 01/03/2006 9:57:47 PM PST by coconutt2000 (NO MORE PEACE FOR OIL!!! DOWN WITH TYRANTS, TERRORISTS, AND TIMIDCRATS!!!! (3-T's For World Peace))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Revolting cat!
The question is: will it sense through bikinis?

My eyes do that already!

I'm trying to understand why liberals reproduce next.

44 posted on 01/03/2006 10:04:00 PM PST by Randy Larsen (I BELIEVE CONGRESSMAN WELDON!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: SandRat

BTTT


45 posted on 01/04/2006 3:06:05 AM PST by E.G.C.
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: ducks1944; Ragtime Cowgirl; Alamo-Girl; TrueBeliever9; maestro; TEXOKIE; My back yard; djreece; ...
By simply holding the portable, handheld device up to a wall, users will be able to detect movements as small as breathing, he said.

The Radar Scope, developed by DARPA, is expected to be fielded to troops in Iraq as soon as this spring, Baranoski said. The device is likely to be fielded to the squad level, for use by troops going door to door in search of terrorists.

The Radar Scope will give warfighters the capability to sense through a foot of concrete and 50 feet beyond that into a room, Baranoski explained.

46 posted on 01/04/2006 5:36:08 AM PST by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SandRat; Mo1; Howlin; Peach; BeforeISleep; kimmie7; 4integrity; BigSkyFreeper; RandallFlagg; ...

Cool!


47 posted on 01/04/2006 6:35:37 AM PST by OXENinFLA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: OXENinFLA
... unless it's my concrete wall, yikes! :oP
48 posted on 01/04/2006 7:35:40 AM PST by cyn
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 47 | View Replies]

To: mysterio; Aussiebabe; Badray
The Supreme Court was already called upon to answer the question of whether using sense enhancing technology to "view" the inside of a home was a "search" within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. Here's a link to the full case:

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=000&invol=99-8508

"Held: Where, as here, the Government uses a device that is not in general public use, to explore details of a private home that would previously have been unknowable without physical intrusion, the surveillance is a Fourth Amendment "search," and is presumptively unreasonable without a warrant. Pp. 3-13."


Ping to Badray
49 posted on 01/04/2006 7:48:52 AM PST by Conservative Goddess (Politiae legibus, non leges politiis, adaptandae)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: GSlob
What problem? If it is a radar, then by using aluminum foil for a wallpaper [and lining the floors and ceilings as well], the radar would be defeated.

Hmmm. Geez guys what's this big ole black spot on the radar? Let's check that out first.

50 posted on 01/04/2006 7:55:29 AM PST by numberonepal (Don't Even Think About Treading On Me)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-5051-100101-114 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson