Remote detectors can determine explosive yield of homemade bombs

That capability was described in a paper by Vanderbilt engineer Douglas Adams presented at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Dynamic Systems and Control Conference on October 23 in Stanford, California.

A number of different tools are currently used for explosives detection ranging from dogs and honeybees to mass spectrometry, gas chromatography and specially designed X-ray machines.

‘Existing methods require you to get quite close to the suspicious object,’ said Adams, Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. ‘The idea behind our project is to develop a system that will work from a distance to provide an additional degree of safety.’

Adams is developing the acoustic detection system with Christopher Watson and Jeffrey Rhoads at Purdue University and John Scales at the Colorado School of Mines as part of a major Office of Naval Research grant.

The new system consists of a phased acoustic array that focuses an intense sonic beam at a suspected improvised explosive device. At the same time, a laser vibrometer is aimed at the object’s casing and records how the casing is vibrating in response. It is the nature of the vibrations that reveals information about what is inside the container.