A petroleum-laden truck has been stopped in its tracks by remote-control signals sent via satellite. The technology is one of a small number of devices being developed to prevent terrorists being able to hijack trucks and use them as weapons.
Engineers at Satellite Security Systems鈥� headquarters in San Diego, California, took less than 40 seconds to bring a truck in Sacramento, 850 kilometres away, to a standstill. They used Motorola鈥檚 satellite data transfer network with its network of base stations to beam instructions to a small transceiver in the truck.
Since 9/11, the US government has worried about terrorists using trucks transporting flammable or hazardous loads to attack buildings or bridges. The State of California has already drafted legislation that would make 鈥渟topping devices鈥� a compulsory addition to all hazardous vehicles by 2005.
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鈥淎 fuel truck could be used for a terrorist bombing since it contains an explosive potential roughly equivalent to that of a commercial jetliner,鈥� says Bill Wattenburg, an engineer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.
Sublime stop
The Satellite Security Systems (S3) technology involves burying a 13cm-long, square transceiver under the dashboard of the vehicle. This processes the instructions sent by satellite and switches off the engine. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very gradual, sublime stop,鈥� says Marvin Serhan, vice president of business development at S3.
The S3 demonstration took place at a California Highway Patrol facility three weeks ago but was not announced until recently. Since the test, a 50-strong fleet of trucks that transports petroleum in California and neighbouring Nevada has been fitted with the technology.
S3 has previously used a similar technology to halt the 鈥渂ait鈥� cars used by some law enforcement authorities to catch automobile thieves.
Wattenburg argues that hijackers could jam the S3 system with a device that emits waves of the same frequency. 鈥淭hey鈥檒l find out the frequency just as quickly as kids figure out how to hack into computers,鈥� says Wattenburg. But Serhan says it is not trivial to jam the S3 system, as the devices can work on a range of different frequencies. 鈥淗ow would a terrorist know which one we were using?鈥� he asks.
Bumper button
Wattenburg has developed his technology for stopping trucks, which does not use remote control. He has built a mechanical device that sits on the back bumper of the truck.
It is wired up to the truck鈥檚 inner mechanics so that when the device is bumped by another vehicle, brakes automatically stop the truck. These devices are currently being tested in a fleet of tankers in California.
But Serhan says it would be 鈥渞isky鈥� for a policeman in a small car to bash into a speeding, heavy truck full of hazardous material.
The technology that is finally widely adopted could be a combination of both devices. 鈥淲e have seen and are interested in both technologies,鈥� says Tom Marshall, spokesperson for the California Highway Patrol. 鈥淏ut we are not formally endorsing either one yet.鈥�
