Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
HAMLeT Hazardous Material Localization And Person Tracking
The HAMLeT Hazardous Material Localization And Person Tracking system is a network of smell sensors that are attuned to particular chemical molecules. If a person walks past them with some sort of hazardous material - let's say, an explosive device - HAMLeT tracks that person's movement.
“HAMLeT will alert security personnel to suspicious individuals,” says head of department Dr. Wolfgang Koch from the FKIE. The system involves a network of highly-sensitive smell sensors which follow an explosive’s trail. There are oscillating crystals on the sensor chips, and whenever the electronic noses capture chemical molecules, their oscillation frequency changes. The precise nature of the change is different for different substances.
A further component in the system – the sensor’s data fusion function – traces the explosive’s path and ferrets out the carrier. A second sensor network is needed to track the route the individual takes; for this, the researchers have used laser scanners.
“HAMLeT’s real achievement is its ability to collate all the data and convert it into a clear and accurate overall picture,” says Koch. The sensor data fusion process employs complex algorithms which allow HAMLeT to build up a precise image of pedestrian flows and connect a particular smell with a specific individual.
The Fraunhofer Institute performed a trial of the HAMLeT system for the German Armed Forces. In the test, researchers demonstrated that the system was capable of tracking five suspects carrying hidden explosives.
Science fiction fans of course remember early systems with "electronic noses", chief among these the mechanical Hound from Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 that could track a single human being in a crowd by using the "ticking combinations of the olfactory system" of the device.
A system very similar to the HAMLeT sensor network was used in the excellent sequel Predator 2. In this 1990 film, Special Agent Peter Keyes (Busey) explains to an L.A. cop (Glover) how they are tracking an inhuman enemy:
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics FKIE in Wachtberg have built a prototype security system to replicate just such a scenario. They’ve named it HAMLeT, which stands for Hazardous Material Localization and Person Tracking.
Gary Busey - Special Agent Peter Keyes: Harrigan! Don't you show up in the damnedest places... Come here, Lieutenant. I got something you might find interesting.
Danny Glover - Lt. Mike Harrigan - What is this?
Keyes: How many times do I have to tell you? You don't know what you're dealing with... There's your killer. Wonderful, isn't it.. Pheromone signature left by his body. Scent molecules... Punch up three (points to video monitor).
(Tracking Predators by pheromones)
From Fraunhofer press release via Popular Science.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 1/14/2010)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Surveillance ")
Chameleon Personalized Privacy Protection Mask
'...the Virtual Epiphantic Identity Lustre.' - Neal Stephenson, 2019.
Spherical Police Robot Rolls In China
'Rand could effectively be in several places at once...' - Niven and Pournelle, 1981.
Vietnam To Have Full Biometric Transparency
'inscriptions too small to be seen with the naked eye; microscopic data...' - Eric Frank Russell, 1939.
Simple Way To Defeat AI Face Recognition
'... designed to foil facial recognition systems.' - Neal Stephenson, 2019.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Robotic Barber Programmed With a Number of Styles
'He found a barber shop which, he thought, would be good for an idle hour.'
Humanoid Boxing Robot KO's Opponent - It's A Knockout!
'Thirty rounds of fighting is tough work. Even for machines.'
Caterpillar Electric Mining Loader Not Yet Ready For Moon
'...the excavations were already in progress, for he saw gray slopes of rubble.'
Centipede Robots Down On The Farm
'...the walking mills of Puffy Products began to tread delicately on their centipede legs across the wheat fields of Kansas.'
Anthropic's Claude AI Creates Legal Citation From Whole Cloth
'Here is a Clerk that would work incessantly, and neither eat, sleep, want payment, or grumble.'
Students Vie For Lunar Regolith Mining Robot Prize
'About time you got here,' the astronaut said.
'They Erased My Memory' Says Ariana Grande
'...using a neutralizing electronic impulse.'
Solitary Black Hole Wanders In Space
'...the Hole is something like a vortex or a whirlpool?'
Spaceplane From Virgin Atlantic
'ZARNAK, YOU'RE TO COMMAND A SCOUTING EXPEDITION --- FIND OUT WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT!'
DARPA Wants 'Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures'
'These are your rudimentary seed packages... Some will combine in place to form more complicated structures.'
Robot Hand Creeps Along, Separate From It's Owner
'The crawling... object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...'
Taikonauts Exercise In China's Tiangong Space Station
'Joe got out the gravity-simulator harnesses...'
Korean Exoskeleton Suit F1 Helps You Put It On
'Better late than never.'
Have AI Researchers Given Up On 'Bio-Babies'?
'You couldn't have the capstone without the pyramid to hold it up.'
Bunker Busters and Bore-Pellets
'The first revelation of the new Soviet bore-pellets.'
'Spikeless' Brand Swizzle Stick Detects Spiked Drinks
'the unobtrusive inspections with tiny remote-cast snoopers...'
