AConceptDemonstrationincludingDrone-DeployedSensorsforCritical

InfrastructureAssessmentandProtectionR.V.Duncan,Ph.D.

VicePresidentforStrategicResearchInitiativesProfessorofPhysicsTexasTechUniversity

PartofaproposedcollaborationproposalwiththeWorldFederationofScientistsunder‘TheNewManhattanProject’

Whatassetsdowewanttomonitor?

• Nuclearfacilities• Electricalpowerconversion/distributionnetworks

• Naturalgaspipelines• Watersystems• Transportationandshippingsystems• Othercriticalinfrastructure

Drone/UAVSensorSets

• Opticalimaging/advancedpatternrecognition– NewATRs, advancedsituationalawareness

• Thermalimaging– Cheap if goodbackgroundcontrast– Useful inmanydifferent applications

• Stand-offchemical/biochemical/aerosoldetection– Forexample,FastCARS,MarlonScully,TexasA&M– SandiaNationalLabs– LANL

• Neutronandgammasensing– Emphasisoneasily-deployed neutronsensors

• Magneticsensing/Powergridmonitoring– Inductively-coupled, drop-deployable – TexasSynchrophasor Network,forexample

• Vibration/environmentalmonitoring

DeploymentMethods

• On-boardsensing(air,water,land)– Ubiquitousimaging/automatedimageanalysis– Thermalimaging

• Unattendedsensordrop(air,water,land)– Nuclear(neutron/gamma)sensing– Powerline monitoring– ‘Helpme’beacons

• Low-powerdropsensing,with‘mothership’communications

OpenROV UnderwaterDrones• https://d17kynu4zpq5hy.cloudfront.net/igi/openrov/luOK4uNbs3F3Fua1.huge

Thisdronedeploysovera100-meterrangeunderwater,usingfiberopticforcommand/control.Usefulforthreatdetection,hullinspection,channelobstructionmonitoring,Cableintegrity,minedetection,etc.ThankstoDickLanza

DroneThermalImaging

FromWorkswell,seewww.drone-thermal-camera.com

Detectandinfer…‘HotSpots’associatedwithdamage,malfunction,decay,etc.ProductionlevelsandcharacteristicsfrompowerplantsPowerdistributionlevelsinnetworks

NewNeutronSensors• Solid-statehexagonalboronnitridedevelopmentatTexasTech’sNanophotonics Center– 10B+nà α +7Li– Muchmorerobustthanscintillators,3HeandBF3 gasphasedetectors– Thisoneis‘droppable’

– Wideband-gapsemiconductor,lowleakagecurrent,anddirectelectronicreadoutonachip

– Over50%efficiency,typically43micronsthick• Applicationsin:– nuclearweaponsdetectioninportshippingcontainers– reactorandnuclearfuelcharacterization,etc.– Manymore

Surprisegamma-raydetectionfromthunderstorms

• Pair-productionwithinthunderstorms!Detectedin1992usingNASA’sorbitingComptonGamma-RayObservatory

ExpandedcapabilityonFermi’sGamma-rayBurstMonitor

ßfromScientificAmerican,August,2012

Extensivedesigncapacityandcapabilitytoday

• Easyembedded/sensorelectronicsdesignanddevelopment– TechShop,NIMyRio,RaspberryPI,otherFPGA-basedproducts,etc.

• Ubiquitousmulti-useplatforms– Novelappsdevelopment– Fromnucleardetectiontoheart/bloodmonitoring

• Excellentopportunityforopen-sourcegrandengineeringchallenges

• Extensivenewmaterialsdevelopment

Conclusions• Advancesintechnologyandmaterialsareacceleratingubiquitoussensingataunprecedentedpace

• Opticalobservationsandinfraredthermalmeasurementsaremostcommon,withemerging,easilydeployednuclear/bio-chemsensors

• Dronescanbothsensefromtheirplatforms,anddeploy(i.e.‘drop’)unintended,countermeasuresorcommunications-supportedsensorsreadily

• The‘newnormal’isinrapid,flexibleplatformdesignsinsmallcompaniestoaddressveryspecificconcerns