Suicide bomb detector moves close to commercialization with Sandia engineer’s help

Screening for bombers in public places
The CBD-1000 uses X-band radar to detect metallic and nonmetallic explosives. Roberson said it can detect ball bearings, glass, nails, ceramics, rocks and other materials frequently used as shrapnel in suicide vests.

The device is designed to detect bombs that current metal detector technology would miss and is intended for screening areas, such as airports, embassies, public and government buildings, border crossings, transportation hubs, and military compounds. It is portable and could also be used at large special events.

The CBD-1000 is the size of a cereal box, weighs about 13 pounds and is mounted on a tripod. It is electric or battery powered and works with proprietary embedded software. The device uses a spread spectrum, stepped, continuous wave radar to bounce a signal off a subject. The software analyzes both horizontal and vertical polarized signals to determine the presence of a potential threat. “If the person is not carrying a threat, the return signal is in the same polarity as when it was transmitted,” Roberson said. “A threat will rotate the polarity of the signal, and it comes back differently.”

The system sets up in about fifteen minutes and an operator, who does not need a working knowledge of radar, can be trained in thirty minutes. The scan takes about 1.3 seconds from nine feet away. Roberson said the team is refining algorithms that will allow people in motion to be scanned at greater distances.

“We’re working toward an instantaneous scan so a person can be checked while moving through the beam field. And we hope to extend the range to 100 feet,” Roberson said. “We want to take movement out of the equation. People who want to protect their citizens want to detect at a distance, keep the threat away. They want to scan crowds and stop threats before they get too close.”

First system didn’t work
Sandi Lab notes that the original technology was developed by another Albuquerque company in the early 2000s as a hand-held, radar-based sensor that police could use to scan people moving at a distance who they suspected might be armed. It evolved into a stationary system. After years of development, the technology just didn’t work. “It became apparent that the system was not completely accurate,” Roberson said.

Roberson and his father, Coda Roberson, founded R3 Technologies to further develop and commercialize the technology. They approached Sandia for help through NMSBA and added partners including Manuel Rangel of APPI Inc. in Las Cruces, the acclaimed radar scientist Don McLemore of McLemore Enterprises LLC in Albuquerque, Lawrence Sher of Wind Mountain Research Associates in Albuquerque and Julie Seton of Indelible Enterprises in Las Cruces.

“When JR came onboard we all took a hard look at what we had, what it did and how it worked,” Roberson said. “JR came at this problem from a different point of view. He wanted to know everything about it. He helped us realize we had to go in a completely different direction. We reverse engineered the hardware and software. I can’t stress enough how important JR was.”

Russell said the Sandia employees studied noise surrounding the radar signal and how it impacted true positives and true negatives. They found a way to reduce noise and strengthen the signal, improving accuracy by minimizing false positives. “If the signal is bigger than the noise, it can scan people as they’re walking. They don’t have to stop,” he said. “These breakthroughs will enable new applications in security of the future and will increase the marketability and desirability in the field of the CBD-1000.”

Continuing the NMSBA collaboration
Roberson hopes to go to market this year after working with Sandia to further improve the machine’s speed, distance and accuracy. He said the CBD-1000 will cost about $50,000 and that several hundred units have been produced. The device is patented, and the company has received inquiries from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Singapore, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Nigeria, he said.

Russell said he enjoys helping a small business. “It’s good for our community,” he said. “Helping someone succeed helps us succeed, too, as a lab. I get to see science though the eyes of business people. And I’ve learned things that will help me in my work.”

Russell said R3’s suicide-bomb detector resonates with Sandia’s national security mission. “We want to help our nation protect our people, our assets,” he said. “If we can save one life, we can make a difference. The opportunity to make us safer from attacks is one of the idealistic things that drive us.”

Sandia Lab notes that NMSBA was created in 2000 by the state legislature to bring national laboratory technology and expertise to small businesses in New Mexico, promoting economic development with an emphasis on rural areas. The program has provided more than 2,300 small businesses in all 33 New Mexico counties with $43.7 million worth of research hours and materials.

“The project between Sandia and R3 Technologies is a compelling example of how NMSBA is not only helping a New Mexico small business but also helping Sandia’s national security mission,” said Jackie Kerby Moore, Sandia’s manager of Technology and Economic Development. “We applaud JR and his team for helping the company commercialize its technology.”