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AConceptDemonstrationincludingDrone-DeployedSensorsforCritical
InfrastructureAssessmentandProtectionR.V.Duncan,Ph.D.
VicePresidentforStrategicResearchInitiativesProfessorofPhysicsTexasTechUniversity
PartofaproposedcollaborationproposalwiththeWorldFederationofScientistsunder‘TheNewManhattanProject’
Whatassetsdowewanttomonitor?
• Nuclearfacilities• Electricalpowerconversion/distributionnetworks
• Naturalgaspipelines• Watersystems• Transportationandshippingsystems• Othercriticalinfrastructure
Drone/UAVSensorSets
• Opticalimaging/advancedpatternrecognition– NewATRs, advancedsituationalawareness
• Thermalimaging– Cheap if goodbackgroundcontrast– Useful inmanydifferent applications
• Stand-offchemical/biochemical/aerosoldetection– Forexample,FastCARS,MarlonScully,TexasA&M– SandiaNationalLabs– LANL
• Neutronandgammasensing– Emphasisoneasily-deployed neutronsensors
• Magneticsensing/Powergridmonitoring– Inductively-coupled, drop-deployable – TexasSynchrophasor Network,forexample
• Vibration/environmentalmonitoring
DeploymentMethods
• On-boardsensing(air,water,land)– Ubiquitousimaging/automatedimageanalysis– Thermalimaging
• Unattendedsensordrop(air,water,land)– Nuclear(neutron/gamma)sensing– Powerline monitoring– ‘Helpme’beacons
• Low-powerdropsensing,with‘mothership’communications
OpenROV UnderwaterDrones• https://d17kynu4zpq5hy.cloudfront.net/igi/openrov/luOK4uNbs3F3Fua1.huge
Thisdronedeploysovera100-meterrangeunderwater,usingfiberopticforcommand/control.Usefulforthreatdetection,hullinspection,channelobstructionmonitoring,Cableintegrity,minedetection,etc.ThankstoDickLanza
DroneThermalImaging
FromWorkswell,seewww.drone-thermal-camera.com
Detectandinfer…‘HotSpots’associatedwithdamage,malfunction,decay,etc.ProductionlevelsandcharacteristicsfrompowerplantsPowerdistributionlevelsinnetworks
NewNeutronSensors• Solid-statehexagonalboronnitridedevelopmentatTexasTech’sNanophotonics Center– 10B+nà α +7Li– Muchmorerobustthanscintillators,3HeandBF3 gasphasedetectors– Thisoneis‘droppable’
– Wideband-gapsemiconductor,lowleakagecurrent,anddirectelectronicreadoutonachip
– Over50%efficiency,typically43micronsthick• Applicationsin:– nuclearweaponsdetectioninportshippingcontainers– reactorandnuclearfuelcharacterization,etc.– Manymore
Surprisegamma-raydetectionfromthunderstorms
• Pair-productionwithinthunderstorms!Detectedin1992usingNASA’sorbitingComptonGamma-RayObservatory
ExpandedcapabilityonFermi’sGamma-rayBurstMonitor
ßfromScientificAmerican,August,2012
Extensivedesigncapacityandcapabilitytoday
• Easyembedded/sensorelectronicsdesignanddevelopment– TechShop,NIMyRio,RaspberryPI,otherFPGA-basedproducts,etc.
• Ubiquitousmulti-useplatforms– Novelappsdevelopment– Fromnucleardetectiontoheart/bloodmonitoring
• Excellentopportunityforopen-sourcegrandengineeringchallenges
• Extensivenewmaterialsdevelopment
Conclusions• Advancesintechnologyandmaterialsareacceleratingubiquitoussensingataunprecedentedpace
• Opticalobservationsandinfraredthermalmeasurementsaremostcommon,withemerging,easilydeployednuclear/bio-chemsensors
• Dronescanbothsensefromtheirplatforms,anddeploy(i.e.‘drop’)unintended,countermeasuresorcommunications-supportedsensorsreadily
• The‘newnormal’isinrapid,flexibleplatformdesignsinsmallcompaniestoaddressveryspecificconcerns