Reality is better than fiction
M314 Motion Tracker is a device that can be called an alien monster movement tracker from the Alien movie series. If you managed to get acquainted with this work, then you probably remember the moments of suspense when the Marines tensely watched the approach of a whole legion of xenomorphs on the screen of a certain portable device. At the same time, the M134 was able to determine only the range and azimuth, which often led to tragedies: the aliens fell from the ceiling or jumped out from under the floor. By the way, everyone can buy a "real and working" xenomorph tracker on one of the Hollywood sites for a symbolic $ 699.95.
We don't know if Megan Lacey, Corbin Hennen, and Rob Kleffner of Lumineye were inspired by the Alien writers' invention, but the way they work is remarkably similar to the M314. The Lumineye Lux device is much more compact, but it only allows you to determine the distance to the object - you will have to search for the exact location of a person by moving the gadget along the wall. It is assumed that the main consumers of the novelty will be employees of the rescue services, they are especially impressed by the ability to determine the intensity of breathing, as well as work in smoke and open fire conditions. In the case of obtaining a workable serial model, the gadget can be adopted by both US law enforcement officers and soldiers of the special army units.
The first step on this path has already been taken - a startup from Lumineye has won a grant of the third annual xTechSearch competition of the Department of Defense in the amount of $ 250,000. It happened on October 16, and now the finalists of the 4th stage of the competition have time to refine their device. In March 2020, something similar to the superfinal will take place, following which contracts from the military may well appear.
The main advantage of the proposed scanner is a weight of less than one kilogram and a 15-meter detection range of a person behind an obstacle. Of course, the efficiency of this gadget depends very much on the material of the walls - the efficiency will be maximum for drywall walls, and minimum - in front of the thickness of reinforced concrete. The development engineers do not disclose the whole essence of the principle of operation, but it is obvious that this is an ordinary pulsed high-frequency radar with a sensitive receiver that allows you to determine the oscillations of the chest in a motionless person.
All-seeing waves
Actually, nothing new was created in Lumineye, but only radically reduced the dimensions of the device and slightly expanded the functionality. Such radar detectors have been used for many years in most countries of the world to search for people under rubble. So, in Russia, the RD-400 has been developed and accepted into service, which also allows you to search for people under a layer of radio-transparent material and determine breathing. The domestic device differs in size, weight (more than 11 kilograms) and human detection range (20 meters).
But only these 20 meters can be almost a monolith of broken brick, concrete and steel reinforcement. It is not known whether Lumineye Lux will be able to work in similar conditions. Close in parameters to the American "all-seeing eye" is the Rescue Radar Light LS-RRL01 from Japan. Its weight and dimensions are similar, but the range or depth of detection is only 5 meters. Some foreign analogs are able not only to determine the respiration of a person, but also to construct temporal oscillograms that allow determining the life dynamics of the victim. But that's not all.
Researchers at MIT seven years ago proposed using Wi-Fi radio waves to scan the space behind walls. As you know, wireless communication penetrates well through walls, but poorly through a person. Actually, then it is only a matter of technology - to learn how to catch the signal reflected from the bodies and convert it into a digestible for the human eye. The technique of such detection allows you to “see” up to 15 people behind the wall, while you can determine their approximate location and movement. The author of the development, Dina Katabi, called the technology itself Wi-Vi, and the stationary device for detecting behind the walls - RF-Capture. Interestingly, the developers have endowed the radar detector with the ability to determine the individual characteristics of a person: height, complexion and silhouette. This allows in the future not only to record the presence of a person in the field of view, but to recognize him with a certain accuracy. There is information that work was carried out to distinguish human gestures in the interests of the previously mentioned Hollywood. For the dream factory, it was supposed to modify the system to work without obstacles. In the rescue services, the application was limited, since the accuracy of the RF-Capture does not allow the detection of breathing at a stationary object of observation.
An example of a device developed at Lumineye showed two fundamental things. First, one of the ways to develop new technologies can be the miniaturization of existing solutions and the expansion of their functionality. And secondly, the existence of defense contests such as xTechSearch, designed for small startups, allows, at relatively modest costs, to stimulate "innovative itching" among talented young people. What is not a worthy example for our Ministry of Defense?
