Microwave beam designed to fry electrical system of cars
Eureka Aerospace in Pasadena has designed a rooftop device that transmits a microwave radiation to a car, stopping it dead (unless it is pedal-powered).
One beam pulsed in a burst lasting just 50 nanoseconds is enough to disrupt a vehicle's electrical system. The radiation can overload wires or damage or upset the car's central microprocessor.Link[James Tatoian, CEO of Eureka Aerospace] thinks that with the proper funding, Eureka Aerospace can shrink the device in less than two years to a 50-pound appliance that looks like a plasma television and can disable cars from 600 feet away.
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...and what if they miss? or use this on a non-lawbreaking citizen? When I was little, and I mistreated my toys, I got them taken away. I didn't get more toys.
Don't tase my car, bro!
Much like the taser, I'm sure that cops will find unique ways to abuse this type of technology.
This is a simple and, almost disturbingly, easy contraption to make. Especially when you realize the fact that almost every single one of the parts I bet nearly all of you have in your home or apartment at this very moment. I believe 60Mins ran a episode awhile back concerning just such technology that they had modified to fit in a suitcase.
I know that the office building of some relatives of mine was built inside a large Faraday Cage (around their server room) to protected against just such an attack. It seemed paranoid at the time I heard it but now it seems like a good idea.
shrink it down to 50 lbs.!? Good grief, how big is it now?
A 50-nanosecond microwave that kills a CPU thru a plastic hood I might buy.
But "overload wires"? Nah. Through a metal grill, a radiator, a firewall, a metal hood? Double Nah.
Even a deathstar laser would have a tough time piercing metal in 50 ns.
JPHILBY, CEO Tatoian finds your lack of faith...disturbing.
So, the cops use this, and fry your car's ignition/fuel injector... and your cellphone, your laptop, your cochlear implant, your automatic insulin pump, and your pacemaker.
And I just can't wait for one of these to be used on me while I'm riding my motorcycle because some 'tard thinks that they're "safe".
What will it do to the brains of the people in the car?
@9: It makes them think this thing is a good idea.
I'll write a check right now for one if it kills subwoofers...
While it's probably a very bad idea for cops, it might be very useful for guarding buildings and facilities that are likely targets of suicide car/truck bombings.
A well-placed microwave at the gate of an embassy or an oil refinery could stop a suicide vehicle in its tracks.
Well you can guess who's going to get a big fat bill, lawsuit or otherwise, if they tase the wrong car (lets not even fathom the consequence if it happens and someone dies in an accident beyond the drivers control).
What happens to all the other stuff thats unlucky enough to be in the 600 ft between the thing and the car? I guess I'll have to read up some more on this...car taser.
And if your target is driving a diesel? Diesel cars are pretty ubiquitous in many parts of the world.
Forget pedal power, how about a car powered by an engine with a carburetor and an honest-to-goodness distributor?
A device like this become common place, expect truck bombers to simply switch to old technology.
It took them long enough. KITT on Knight Rider had one of these in like 1985.
It's not going to fry MY car's microprocessor, it doesn't have one. However, if it can "overload wires" and stall the engine I'm going to crash because I'll lose my brakes.
Krisjohn,
Yikes, what kind of car do you drive that loses its brakes when the engine stalls?
I agree this device could cause serious problems if misused by cops. But in cases where it should be used, it replaces a high-speed pursuit, which has its own costs, risks, and dangers -- and substantially greater ones, I might add.
Seconding #11. I've been fantasizing about ways to kill my neighbor's ridiculous car stereo for three years, and this sounds like just the ticket!
Dudes,
I wrote about this, like, 2 years ago.
http://www.wired.com/cars/energy/news/2005/02/66473
Cheers!
-C
Wow, 22 comments and not a single conspiracy theory linking this to HAARP. Amazing.
Hmm. Life imitates 1950s Sci-Fi:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Earth_Stood_Still
Despite the teaser, this device would have little to no impact on cars built before the 1980s.
hahaha... they'd have a job with my old VW Camper... electrics? wtf?
As the owner of an Implanted Cardiac Defibrillator (ICD) ("pacemaker" to the masses) I wonder what the discharge of this device nearby would do to my health?
I know I'm supposed to avoid being around devices like this, as is cautioned very clearly in the literature supplied with the device.
I can only imagine the trigger being pulled on this thing at some nearby miscreant and my world fading to black.
I'll take the pocket sized version, please. Arm the pedestrians for survival!
Microwave insulation comes in rolls of easy-to-cut cloth for about $30 a metre.:
http://www.thomasnet.com/products/microwave-insulators-41171000-1.html
Line your engine compartment with it. Line your passenger compartment too, while you're at it.
Then get your own microwave cannon and go out cruising for radar traps.
"Hey Bob! This thing says that Buick is doin' 999 miles an hour! Any why is my face burning?"