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
 |
See People Through Walls
An innovative system created at MIT will let you see people through concrete walls. The device is an ultrawideband (UWB) multiple-input, multiple-output phased-array sensor with real-time acquisition and processing capability; it provides video-like synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images of people moving behind a concrete wall.
The image quality is sufficiently high to resolve multiple humans behind a wall. Humans were located through the three types of wall tested when they were moving or standing still. Humans were located through the 4-inch concrete and cinder block wall even if they were sitting still or holding their breath while standing. Because humans move slightly even while trying to remain still, the radar system detected those small movements by using coherent radar processing techniques
At the core of the system is a range-gated continuous-wave radar architecture that provides dynamic range and sensitivity to acquire weak signals scattered from targets behind the wall. The radar set is connected to an array of UWB antenna elements consisting of two subarrays made up of 8 receive elements and 13 transmit elements. Microwave switches guide the transmitter port from the radar to one transmit element at a time. Similarly, microwave switches guide the receive port to one receive antenna at a time.
(Two humans about 30 feet down range)
(One of the through-wall experimental setups)
The radar system is located to the right and the cinder block wall is to the left. An absorber is mounted on the vertical reinforcement sections of the wall and clutter fences using a pyramidal absorber are mounted on the front of the wall to approximate the conditions of two-dimensional air-wall-air models. Plywood sheets on the ground allow the radar system to be easily moved around the target area. A Styrofoam "A-frame" holds the calibration target in front of the wall. When measurements are acquired, one or two humans walk around about 10 feet behind the wall.
I use some other sf devices as predecessors in the other stories; here's an amusing reference from a 1936 John W. Campbell story:
"They had the tube then. They called it the PTW tube - Probability Time Wave. They'd been trying to make a television set that would see through walls..."
(Read more)
This passage just goes to show that even seventy years ago, people were thinking about a device just like this one. Gordon Giles used a similar idea in his 1937 story Diamond Planetoid to see which planetoids where worth mining; take a look at the X-beam projector.
From MIT Lincoln Lab.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 10/18/2011)
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 - (" Engineering ")
China's Drone Mothership Can Carry 100 Drones
'So the parent drone carries a spotter that it launches...'
Drones Recharge In Mid-Air Like Jets Refuel!
'...nurse drones that would cruise around dumping large amounts of power into randomly selected pods.' - Neal Stephenson, 1995.
Heat Waver - The First Ever Combo Solar Collector And Wind Turbine
'...like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.' - Simpson Stokes, 1937.
Tesla 'Fleet Response Agents' Bolster FSD Autonomy
'You hate the whole idea that some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre has got your life... in his hands.' - Charles Stross, 2007.
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
LLM 'Cognitive Core' Now Evolving
'Their only check on the growth and development of Vulcan 3 lay in two clues: the amount of rock thrown up to the surface... and the amount of the raw materials and tools and parts which the computer requested.'
Has Elon Musk Given Up On Mars?
'There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.'
Bacteria Turns Plastic Into Pain Relief? That Gives Me An Idea.
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
When Your Child's Best Friend Is An AI
'Figments of his mind in one sense, of course, for he had shaped them...'
China's Drone Mothership Can Carry 100 Drones
'So the parent drone carries a spotter that it launches...'
Drones Recharge In Mid-Air Like Jets Refuel!
'...nurse drones that would cruise around dumping large amounts of power into randomly selected pods.'
Australian Authors Reject AI Training Of Llama
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
Is China Mining Helium-3 On The Moon's Farside?
'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.'
Maybe It's Too Soon To Require Autonomous Mode
'I hope all those other cars are on automatic,' he said anxiously.
Is Agentic AI The Wrong Kind Of Smartness?
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.'
Heat Waver - The First Ever Combo Solar Collector And Wind Turbine
'...like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'
Tesla 'Fleet Response Agents' Bolster FSD Autonomy
'You hate the whole idea that some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre has got your life... in his hands.'
Mori3 Autonomous Shapeshifting Robot
'My homeland is being threatened by the Replicators. Thus far all attempts to stop them have failed.'
Tesla Seeks 'Tesla Robotaxi' And 'Robobus' Trademarks Ignoring Prior Art
'A robobus had just rolled up to the curb.'
Scary Grid Safety Robots
'The ultimate horror for our paranoid culture...'
Does AI Provide A Way Forward For Talk Therapy
'And there in the next room by the sofa sat a familiar suitcase, that of his psychiatrist Dr. Smile.'
