Sentinel portals—designed to detect trace amounts of explosives on people—are appearing in airports across the country.
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Our R&D work seeks solutions to some of the most challenging problems in explosives detection.
Trace explosives detectors must overcome a fundamental challenge: finding the tiny amount of explosives material on a person or object that may be the only indicator of a possible threat. To improve the chances of finding trace explosives, Sandia develops sample collection and preconcentration technology.
Two types of samples can be collected:
The preconcentrator then vaporizes the collected compounds into the detector.
Sandia has integrated this enabling technology into a variety of Sandia-developed systems for detecting explosives on people, vehicles, and objects.
The Sentinel, manufactured by Smiths Detection and incorporating Sandia technology, is a walk-though, non-intrusive personnel portal. The portal puffs air onto an occupant to dislodge particles. An air sample is collected, concentrated, and analyzed for explosives.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) tested the Sentinel for several months and is now placing the portals in many of the nation’s busiest airports.
The prevalent use of vehicle bombs has created the need to screen vehicles quickly for explosives. Sandia has developed an engineering prototype that requires less than 3 minutes to screen a vehicle.
Handheld detectors provide first responders a versatile means of detecting trace explosives. To be practical, mobile detectors must be compact and lightweight, highly sensitive, and low-cost.
Sandia has developed two additions to the handheld explosives detection field: the Hound™ and the MicroHound™.
High-security facilities need to permit the entrance of authorized personnel and materials, yet prevent the entry of unwanted personnel and contraband. Combining the entry control and contraband detection functions requires several platforms to screen for numerous possible threats, and often requires the presence of security officers, which can place them in harm’s way.
Sandia’s integrated personnel checkpoint (IPC) streamlines this process by combining a variety of physical security technologies into a single, completely automated booth.
The RoboHound™ is a remotely operated system for detecting trace explosives at a distance, mainly in emergency situations, to interrogate suspicious items. It could also be used at checkpoint screening.