An abandoned suitcase

Bomb disposal squads face a challenging task: Every day, they have to decide very quickly whether a suspicious object is dangerous or not. To do so, robots are important devices. The bilateral project DURCHBLICK, which is coordinated by Fraunhofer EMI and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), wants to make this procedure safer by supplying robots with new detection technologies. Since the suspicious object should not be moved, it is important that the examination methods are contactless. For this reason, the German and Austrian project partners focus on such technologies. One of these is the X-ray backscatter technology, with which it is possible to look inside an object that is only accessible from one side. This is important if the object is placed in a corner or in a locker, and no X-ray detector can be positioned behind it as is needed for classical X-ray imaging methods. The localization and identification of radioactive sources from a distance as well as the optical tracking of the environment are also in the focus of research. For all possible technical solutions, the ethical and legal situation as well as the consequences for the bomb disposal squad and the public are considered. Besides the coordination of the entire project, EMI’s research focus is on X-ray backscatter technology, data fusion and data editing of all obtained information. The aim is to provide this information to the bomb squad in a manner that is quickly and unambiguously interpretable even under considerable stress. More information on DURCHBLICK and the partner project in Austria can be found at  www.durchblick-projekt.de