http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,66473,00.html
Wired News
Car Chase Tech That's Really Hot
By Cyrus Farivar?
Story location: http://www.wired.com/news/autotech/0,2554,66473,00.html
02:00 AM Feb. 03, 2005 PT
If a Los Angeles-area scientist has his way, car chases may become as
antiquated as horse-mounted cavalry.
James Tatoian, chief executive of Eureka Aerospace in Pasadena,
California, is developing a system that uses microwave energy to interfere
with microchips inside cars. Once the chip is overloaded with excessive
current, the car ceases to function, and will gradually decelerate on its
own, he said.
"If you put approximately 10 or 15 kilovolts per meter on a target for a
few seconds, you should be able to bring it to a halt," Tatoian said.
Most cars built in the United States since 1982 have some type of on-board
microprocessor. Today, the processors are advanced enough to control
functions such as fuel injection and GPS equipment.
Eureka Aerospace's High Power Electromagnetic System consists of a series
of wires arranged in a 5-foot-by-4-foot rectangular array. The interference
is emitted in a conical shape outward from the device.
Tatoian said that while he is not the first to come up with the idea of
using electromagnetic interference to stop cars, he has been able to reduce
the size and power consumption of such a device so that it would be much
more portable.
It is small enough such that it could be mounted onto a helicopter, or
onto a law enforcement pursuit vehicle -- an application that interests the
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Eureka Aerospace hopes to have a working prototype that the sheriff's
department can test by late summer. The National Institute of Justice and
the U.S. Marine Corps may also be potential early clients. The company's
early tests indicate that the car-stopping device should be functional at a
range of 300 feet.
Cmdr. Sid Heal, who evaluates technology for the Los Angeles County
Sheriff's Department, said that after seeing a preliminary demonstration of
the device last year, he was very enthusiastic about its prospects.
"Everybody on the globe is interested in a technology like this," he said.
"Every law enforcement agency and every military agency in the world will
jump on this. I can say that with absolute confidence."
In current situations where police need to disable a car they are
pursuing, sometimes the officers must resort to spike strips, which are
designed to puncture the vehicle's tires. Heal said that with an
electromagnetic interference system, a potentially dangerous outcome (such
as loss of control from flat tires) could be avoided.
"The beautiful part of using the (microwave) energy is that it leaves the
suspect in control of the car," he said. "He can steer, he can brake, he
just can't accelerate."
Another benefit to such a technology, Heal said, is that it would give
officers the ability to pinpoint where they want to stop a car -- on a
freeway overpass, for instance -- which would limit a suspect's
opportunities for escape.
"It's going to change law enforcement tactics," he said.
If the technology is able to prove worthy, it may also change the behavior
of potential criminals. Heal said most people who lead police on car chases
have never committed such an act before, and they might think twice if they
recall the presence of such a device.
"You would automatically remember you can't get away," he said. "What I
think we're going to get is compliance. That would be a breakthrough beyond
anything of what anyone has provided in the past."
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R. A. Hettinga