Sniffer dog's got company

Mumbai: RDX when wrapped in multiple layers makes its detection difficult even in high security zones like airports. Mere screening devices are not sufficient to sniff traces of RDX.
The government of India entrusted the department of electrical engineering of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai, with the task of developing an electronic device which would detect traces of RDX that existing machines cannot. The IIT faculty took on the challenge, and the result of five years of concerted effort was the Electronic Nose, endearingly called E-dog.
Professor V Ramgopal Rao from the department explains the working of the wireless explosive detector, “The Electronic Nose is made from cantilevers, each of which is the main nano sensor element that is 200 times thinner than a strand of human hair.”
The cantilever is coated with a chemical that reacts with the explosive. The chemical binds with the RDX molecule generating stress, which is converted into an electrical signal. This signal is wirelessly transmitted to a control station. “It is this chemical that ‘sniffs’ the RDX out.”
Currently available screening devices installed at sensitive areas need traces of molecules of explosives for detection and cannot sense explosives in their vapour state.
Consider the standard procedure followed at the airport. Your handbag is only scanned towards the end once you reach security check. This means that from the time you enter the airport till security check, no machine is used to scan your handbag. This is where the vapour detection capability will come into play.
No existing technology can match the capabilities of a sniffer dog. “But maintenance and training of sniffer dogs prove expensive. The E-dog, on the other hand, is not expensive and would cost about Rs1,000 each. Given the minimal cost, a network of such sensors can be deployed at public places” says Rao.
05/02/10 Namita Handa/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Airports Feb 2010, New Feb 2010, Safety Feb 2010