 |
Smart Dew Sensor Monitoring
Smart Dew sensors as small as dewdrops may provide a new and more cost-effective way to secure large areas. Prof. Yoram Shapira and his Tel Aviv University Faculty of Engineering team put a controller chip and an RF transmitter/receiver in each one so they can be networked together.
(Smart Dew size comparison)
"We've created a generic system that has no scale limitations," says Prof. Shapira. "Most people could never afford the manpower to guard such large properties. Instead, we've created this Smart Dew to do the work. It's invisible to an intruder, and can provide an alarm that someone has entered the premises."
Each unit can detect an intruder within a fifty meter radius; Smart Dew can be equipped with magnetic sensors to detect cars or microphones to detect sound. At an anticipated cost of just 25 cents per unit, it creates a security perimeter at a fraction of the usual cost.
SF fans may be reminded of the dog pod grid consisting of innumerable tiny aerostat monitors from Neal Stephenson's 1995 novel The Diamond Age
These pods were programmed to hang in space in a hexagonal grid pattern about ten centimeters apart near the ground (close enough to stop a dog but not a cat, hence "dog pods") and spaced wider as they got higher.
Even earlier, science fiction fans of the Fifties were treated to an advance look at this idea in The Invincible, by Stanislaw Lem. How could a black cloud be made of ... iron?
"What is the nature of this cloud? What is your opinion?" he asked without any introductory remarks."It is made up of tiny metal particles. A remote-controlled emulsion, as it were, with uniform center," answered Jazon...
It could be that these microorganisms themselves form such a center when they combine in a certain manner - a kind of inanimate brain. They exist in loose swarms, which permits them to be constantly exposed to the sunlight, or even to chase after thunderclouds, for they probably obtain energy from these atmospheric discharges."
From Eurekalert.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/31/2009)
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 (Back On) ( 1 )
Related News Stories - (" Surveillance ")
Smartphone Sensor System Tracks Gunfire
'Sound trackers on the roof could zero in on weapons action...'-Greg Bear, 2007.
SHEPHERD-MIL, A Birdlike Soaring UAV
'When he had first built them, they had been crude indeed, flying mechanisms with little more than a reflex-response unit.'- Philip E. High, 1968.
AXON Flex And Stross' Cop Specs
'Arriving on SOC... Start evidence log." [E]verything you see on duty goes into the black box.'- Charles Stross, 2007.
India Opts For Nationwide Iris Scanning
'The road you're on, John Anderton, is the one less traveled...'- Steven Spielberg, 2002.
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.
Current News
MIT Robot Cheetah Video Shows Gait Transition
'The legs are long, curled way up to deliver power, like a cheetah's.'
TrackingPoint Smart Rifle
Not your typical 'smart bullet' approach.
'Hello, Computer!' Google Now Highlighted at IO13
'Hello, computer!'
Sky City's 220 Stories Are Go
'It rested among green parklands and... stood in total isolation, a glittering block of whites and flashing windows dotted with colors.'
CARMAT Bioprosthetic Total Human Heart Replacement
'George Walt's corporate existence proved the workability of wholly mechanical organs...'
Personal Sniffer Robots
'...The ticking combinations of the olfactory system of the hound.'
Physical Exam? We've Got Apps
See the future of handheld, personal medical devices.
The Interplanetary Internet, Vint Cerf Speaking
'This was the center of Interplanetary Communications.'
Drosophila Robotica, The Mechanical Fly
'... the Scarab [flying robot] buzzed into the great workroom as any intruding insect might...'
Robo-Raven Flapping Wing Robot Bird
'When he had first built them, they had been crude indeed, flying mechanisms with little more than a reflex-response unit.'
Japan's Nursing Home Robot Plan
Let's make the Roujin Z-0001 Robotic Bed!
Samsung Smart TVs With Gesture Control
'He waved his hand and the circuit switched abruptly.'
Swiss HCPVT Giant Photovoltaic 'Flower'
'...leaning against one of the slender stalks of a sunshade-photocell collector.'
Mini-Livers Made By 3D Printer
Organleggers may experience an employment downturn.
Smartphone Sensor System Tracks Gunfire
'Sound trackers on the roof could zero in on weapons action...'
Bacteria Now Make Biofuel Like Oil
'They have ... germs that eat pretty near anything, and produce oil as a waste product.'
