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Thursday, February 03, 2005

New Technology Stops Getaway Cars
The sirens-blaring car chase may be a thing of the past thanks to a new microwave technology.

According to Wired News: "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."

# Permalink Posted at 4:39 AM 9 comments Email this Link

Comments on this Item:

Cool. And what happens when them ter'rists start pointing these things at planes?

# posted by James 7:22 AM

Hey, this could be good for us computer techs!
Since most car computers are surrounded by metal they will have to use a lot of energy to fry those control modules and will probably screw up loads of nearby computers. This will also be good for lawyers although I think they have plenty of work.

# posted by Anonymous 7:28 AM

Awright kids, time to educate you.

James, airplanes fly over broadband microwave towers all of the time. Their wires are shielded to protect them.

Tod, transmitters can use what's called "pencil" mode to narrow the beam so that it only affects the tagret area. This technology was developed for fighter aircraft to narrow the beam over a 10 to 20 mile range. I think it will work within a quarter mile, especially when the burst would only last for a second or so (the occupant(s) on the other hand may have their hair rearranged).

Years ago I read an article in Autoweek(?) where a British Police car's radar gun was fried by a low flying Harrier. The RAF said that the policeman should count himself lucky that the countermeasure system wasn't in "active response".

# posted by WRM 7:42 AM

How tight is the beam? Could it fry someone's pacemaker if they were in the target car?

On a different scale, this sounds a bit like the cell-phone signal interrupters of the recent past.

Personally, I think this is cool tech. Obviously going to be hacked and copied. Clearly, car enthusiasts will have new mods to make - like "Hey Jim, I just got a new M-wave safe EFI system installed!"

# posted by Jason in Oregon 8:22 AM

Yes! Fry the GPS! That'll stop 'em!!

Not that this invalidates the other point, but mentioning the GPS as part of the how-to-stop-the-car, they just prove that, basically, most journalists (present company exceptes) are, well, goobers.

And you'd think he'd raise the question about whether this can cause permanent damage to a vehicle's systems, or whether it's transient.

# posted by Anonymous 1:32 PM

Typically, the damage is permanent. Nice, computerless, 1976 Camaro.... sigh!

# posted by Bill 8:03 PM

Zap Car's on-board computer, engine dies, no power steering, limited power brakes, yeah, great idea. I see the headlines now, "Car Thief Awarded Record Settlement From Crash".

# posted by RobertSB 8:27 PM

Better alternatives:
A beam that resets the odometer past the warranty so the car stops running.
A laser etches the image of George W. on the windshield, sending the car over a high cliff along with the rest of the country.
Cause the thief to commit suicide by transmitting over the audio system, the sound of Christina Aguilera binging, purging, and talking trash on Britney Spears' engagement ring.

# posted by 9-line 2:14 AM

Robert, cars these days are equipped with a "limp-in" fail-safe mode for just those times when their computers might gasp and puke. It typically allows for low speed operation (<20mph) with reduced functionality.

# posted by Bill 8:01 AM

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