February 15, 2012

Laser Liquid Scanner may help get liquids through airport security

by Gareth Mankoo

With all the terror attempts on in the world we have seen some serious beefed up measures and phenomenal breakthroughs in averting catastrophes. One thing that unfortunately stuck was the inability of authorities to tell between potentially catastrophic fuels and plain drinking water. Now, you may be able to take water safely through security, with the becoming of the Laser Liquid Scanner. It is capable of determining the contents of bottles when the liquid is in them. The device is called INSIGHT100 and makes use of Spatially Offset Raman Spectroscopy (SORS) to bounce light through liquids and determine the possibility of contents.

The INSIGHT100 also works well for powders in sealed packets. With an error rate of just 1.5%, I see promise in the application and room for improvement too.
Slashgear