Smart Gun Development Promises to Save American Lives
Since 2000, when the New Jersey Institute of Technology ventured to develop the Smart Gun with the aid of U.S. government funding, 24 children and adults have been killed in 15 separate school shootings. A unique sensor system offered by Sensor Products LLC is now being utilized by the Institute to produce a weapon that recognizes only its authorized user (known as the Smart Gun) in order to prevent these and other tragedies.
(PRWEB) May 24, 2005 -- Reinforcing the ability to fully customize their
Tactilus® line of electronic pressure measurement systems, Sensor Products LLC
has developed a unique sensor specifically for the New Jersey Institute of
Technology’s highly publicized Smart Gun project. Utilizing a resistive
architecture, this newly designed system is the front-runner among other
candidate technologies such as magnetic rings, transponders, combination locks
and fingerprint recognition devices.
The urgency of the completion of
this project is self-explanatory. Since 2000, when NJIT ventured to develop this
technology with the aid of government funding, 24 children and adults have been
killed in 15 separate school shootings. Fortunately, engineers at NJIT see the
advantages of the Tactilus® sensor system being used on firearms to determine
the grip of authorized users and are making great strides to finish this mass
producible prototype by early 2006. In fact, Sensor Products recently delivered
the second generation of their Tactilus® Smart Gun sensor to NJIT. Find out more
at www.sensorprod.com.
Not only are the individual sensing points of this new Tactilus® system
a mere 0.2 millimeters thick in order to prevent any compromise of a firearm’s
integrity, but are still accurate even when the user wears gloves. Additionally,
the system possesses electronics that can be miniaturized to fit into the handle
along with the magazine by utilizing lithium ion batteries like ones found in
PDA’s and cell phones.
“To get a product of this magnitude off the
ground, we essentially partner with our customers—in this case the engineers at
NJIT,” said Jeffrey Stark, senior technical manager at Sensor Products. “This
project is crucial for the safety of today’s society and we will work tirelessly
at being creative and flexible in our designs and will provide resolution to
difficult problems that may arise in the development process.”
With a
velocity of up to 1,000 Hz, the embedded sensors in Tactilus® can generate
pressure readings with unprecedented speed and accuracy. Its thin and highly
flexible substrate material allows for easy conformability to curvaceous
surfaces such as the grip of a handgun. These inherent traits make Tactilus®
ideal for conforming around the handle of a firearm to provide the most thorough
and accurate pressure readings possible. These robust sensors can last thousands
of uses with consistent repeatability and are highly resistant to
electromagnetic noise, temperature and humidity fluctuations.
The
Tactilus® systems collect pressure data and send an analog signal back to an
intermediary data “hub” where it is converted to a digital signal. This signal
contains the collected data and is subsequently sent to an interface (software)
designed for easy viewing and dynamic analysis. Tactilus® Windows-based software
provides 2-D and 3-D imaging, isobar and region-of-interest viewing,
longitudinal and latitudinal analysis, graphical displays of data in bar charts,
pressure vs. time, linescans and histograms, statistical analysis of average,
minimum and maximum pressures, total force over any selected area and more. This
data may also be exported to virtually any third party software.
For
demonstrations or more information about Tactilus®, contact Sensor Products at
1.973.884.1755 or visit www.sensorprod.com/tactilus.
About Sensor Products
LLC
New Jersey based Sensor Products LLC, established in 1990, is a world
leader in the manufacture and distribution of tactile pressure sensing
solutions. Their customized and off-the-shelf products are installed within all
of the Fortune 500 industrial companies as well as thousands of smaller
manufacturing firms. Their sensors are used in applications as diverse as tire
testing to semiconductor manufacturing and from R&D labs to space missions.
Additionally, Sensor Products provides in-house and on-site stress and pressure
mapping analysis, as well as a variety of regional technical seminars. Visit
them at www.sensorprod.com.
Technical Contact:
Carlos
Ruiz
Product Manager
1.973.884.1755 x5001
Media Contact:
Heather
D. Brown
Public Relations Specialist
1.973.884.1755 x5826
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/5/prweb243081.htm