Hitachi Develops Boarding Gate With Built-In Explosives Detector

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Hitachi Develops Boarding Gate With Built-In Explosives Detector

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday October 4, 2012 @09:31PM from the all-in-one dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Hitachi, in collaboration with Nippon Signal and the University of Yamanashi, have successfully prototyped a boarding gate with built-in explosives detection equipment as part of efforts to increase safety in public facilities such as airports. The prototype boarding gate efficiently collects minute particles which have affixed themselves to IC cards or portable devices used as boarding passes, and can detect within 1-2 seconds the presence of explosive compounds using internalized equipment. With this method, it is possible to inspect 1,200 passengers per hour."

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Cup check! by zippo01 · 2012-10-04 21:40 · Score: 4, Funny

Anything would be better then getting karate chopped in the crotch by the poorly trained TSA guy, every time I fly and refuse the body scanner.
1. Re:Cup check! by L4t3r4lu5 · 2012-10-04 22:35 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  The obvious solution is to stop flying to / from the USA. Obviously it's difficult if you need to fly for work, but then again I suppose some people's principles do have a price.
  
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2. Re:Cup check! by ericloewe · 2012-10-05 01:13 · Score: 2
  
  Yes, you can try the UK, where they'll irradiate you with no option to opt out (Manchester for example).
  Small detail: Backscatter x-ray scanners are banned in the EU. Those are mm-Wave scanners, which are as safe as your phone. Essentially, it's your privacy you should be worried about, not your health.
Soooooo... by jamstar7 · 2012-10-04 21:48 · Score: 5, Interesting

I skimmed the link, looked like typical marketting pitch stuff. I didn't see any error rates on this marvelous new device. I'm curious as to how many false positives it's going to generate, and how often it will miss carry-on explosives. I'm also wondering how many days I'll need to stay away from the rifle range before I won't show any particulate explosives at one of these checkpoints.

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Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
1. Re:Soooooo... by AlecC · 2012-10-04 21:57 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Relevant comment. Contrary to what most people think, the false positive rate is far more important than the false negative rate. If it has a false negative (i.e. missing real bombs) rate, it will still succeed in its main task, of deterring would be bombers, because they will not take a 95% chance of detection. (Assuming, of course, the false negatives are random). On the other hand, if it has a false positive rate of 0.1%, that is a false alarm for about one in four aircraft boardings, which it totally unacceptable, And, as you say, a recent visit to a rifle range would be highly likely to trigger a false positive. They need to tune the false positives down to less than 0.001% while still keeping false negatives to just a few percent. Which may not be easy.
  
  --
  Consciousness is an illusion caused by an excess of self consciousness.
2. Re:Soooooo... by StripedCow · 2012-10-04 22:02 · Score: 2
  
  I'm curious as to how many false positives it's going to generate
  Interestingly, one can significantly increase the false positive number if one goes to an airport an sprays around these tiny particles (one only needs little of them).
  Therefore I hope they close the airport if the false positive rate goes up, instead of assuming the equipment is at fault.
  
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  If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
3. Re:Soooooo... by martin-boundary · 2012-10-04 22:06 · Score: 2
  
  Or they could just, you know, blow up the detectors?
4. Re:Soooooo... by AlecC · 2012-10-04 22:38 · Score: 2
  
  Because, rather than "more metal than expected", which is nearly always innocuous, it say "EXPLOSIVES!". If your X-Ray showed something explicitly gun shaped, as opposed to something just not understood, I bet the grope would be a lot less friendly. If there are explosives, the security staff would be in reasonable fear that they themselves are at risk if a suicide bomber blows himself up on detection, whereas a gun strapped to the back is not yet a danger.
  
  --
  Consciousness is an illusion caused by an excess of self consciousness.
5. Re:Soooooo... by petes_PoV · 2012-10-04 23:17 · Score: 2
  
  Yes. On the assumption that the goal of a trrrist is not to blow stuff up, but to create an environment of fear, then anything that makes it easier to create false positives is simply playing into their hands.
  The only effect this would have would be to create an "OMG, there are several baddies a day trying to blow up aircraft" which would increase the demand for security and restrictions. That in turn makes it easier for the bad guys (and the security companies - sometimes it's difficult to tell who's benefiting most) to pursue their goals.
  
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  politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
6. Re:Soooooo... by IndustrialComplex · 2012-10-05 01:32 · Score: 2
  
  Well, it looks like something bugged and it stripped out the middle part of my comment.
  What happens when a metal detector has a false positve? You step back, take off your belt, and try again. less than 10s
  When this device has a false positive, you don't KNOW it's a false positive, it just says "I DETECTED EXPLOSIVES ON THIS GUY". Where are the explosives? Well, it doesn't tell you that, so now you have to check everything about this guy, including his luggage, which is probably already on the plane. You are probably going to want to check the luggage of his travel companions because that might be how it got on him. So you are probably going to have to dig out his luggage at a minimum, pull him to the side and do a full invasive search because chemical 'smells' aren't really localized and it could be in his shoe, his undergarments, maybe it was his hair that set off the sensor... etc. Wasted time greater than 10 minutes possibly even up to an aborted flight.
  In other words, a false positive, if you actually believe the sensor, is going to require a real thorough search.
  If you don't believe the sensor, then you won't perform the full search, but then that raises the question: If you aren't going to treat your sensor as if you believe what it reports, what is the use of the sensor?
  
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7. Re:Soooooo... by j-beda · 2012-10-05 02:33 · Score: 2
  
  "I'm also wondering how many days I'll need to stay away from the rifle range before I won't show any particulate explosives at one of these checkpoint."
  Simple: just don't carry your BOARDING PASS to the RIFLE RANGE.
  Oh yeah, and don't touch your boarding pass with your hands.
  The whole point of this type of thing is to be sensitive enough so that it can detect the person who assembled a bomb and put it into his luggage and then picked up his boarding pass from the ticket agent, walked across the airport and handed that boarding pass to the gate attendant. It needs to be able to work even if the bad-guy took a shower after packing the bomb away and before touching the boarding pass.
Multipass by Intrepid+imaginaut · 2012-10-04 22:04 · Score: 3, Funny

I though that just read "Hitachi Develops Boarding Gate With Built-In Explosives" for a moment.
1. Re:Multipass by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-04 22:28 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  That would be Sony.
2. Re:Multipass by Canazza · 2012-10-04 23:03 · Score: 2
  
  Mouse Trap: XTREME
  
  --
  It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for being subtle.
not intrusive enough by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-04 22:18 · Score: 3, Funny

Doesn't look intrusive enough, so I guess it will not be used.
What happens when the machine goes "ping"? by Rogerborg · 2012-10-04 22:31 · Score: 4, Interesting

You've been though the perv-scan or the finger-rape, your carry on baggage has already been nuked, and you're at the boarding gate with only Sally Swipe-n-Smile between you and the 'plane.
Then the machine goes "ping" and the siren goes off. What now? How does that play out?
If it's a false positive (and it will be) then Sally asks you politely to step aside, and it's just another piece of minor inconvenience for the airline, and probably a missed flight and some more TSA probing for the traveller.
But let's pretend for a second that it's a true positive - which is surely the only scenario that we're actually interested in. What then?
Does Sally throw herself onto the passenger in slow motion, screaming "Nooooooo!" in order to save everyone else? And how does she know that this is the one time that it's a real threat, rather than the false ones that she's become used to, day after day?
Really, how does Sally react to the real threat, and what will be the results of that reaction?

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Priveless by frovingslosh · 2012-10-04 22:39 · Score: 3, Funny

Chemical sniffing boarding gate: $10,800,000
Government contract for the U.S. air travel system: Billions
$4 bag of potassium nitrate fertilizer sprinkled on sidewalk ice by a terrorist instead of salt: Priceless

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Sucks if you're a shooter by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-04 23:11 · Score: 2, Interesting

I made the mistake of going to the range before flying once. Despite washing my hands, I still had gunpowder residue on them and my clothing.
Missing my flight and 4 hours of coerced interrogation later (CPS and Phila PD showed up and threatened to take my kids away if I didn't talk, and they wouldn't allow me to call a lawyer), I was finally allowed to leave and go home, since I was put on the no-fly list.
Unsurprisingly, the ACLU did not want to take the case, seeing as how they are a staunch opponent of gun rights, and numerous civil rights attorneys I called said it would be pointless to sue, since apparently the courts have adopted the stance that you give implied cosent to both searches AND interrogations when you purchase a plane ticket.
No rights for you!
1. Re:Sucks if you're a shooter by quacking+duck · 2012-10-05 03:14 · Score: 2
  
  Didn't think to call the NRA? Not much sympathy then.
  Sure, the ACLU is supposed to represent all civil liberties. But the NRA focuses on a specific one, so in reality it's the NRA that should be up in arms (figuratively) over stuff like this, which has broad implications on their membership. If they aren't, then something's missing from this story.
Multipliers by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-04 23:29 · Score: 2, Informative

> Why should the false positive rate be so low?
Because it's multiplied by the millions of innocent passengers the gate will encounter.
The false negative rate, by contrast, is multiplied by the handful of terrorists.
The TSA will not accept it by Required+Snark · 2012-10-05 00:00 · Score: 5, Informative

It doesn't conform to the TSA paradigm, so they will reject it.
1. It is not intrusive enough.
2. It replaces sullen TSA uniformed personal with hardware.
3. It reduces the DHS conditioning intended to make the general public accept arbitrary behavior by the government.
4. It is not as dangerous as full body radiation from scanners.
There are a few things that might make the TSA like it.
1. It is really expensive.
2. It doesn't actually work.
3. It will interfere with people for no discernible reason.
On the whole, it's reducing the number and visible presence of the TSA uniformed types that will keep it from being adopted. They are already so expensive, intrusive, arbitrary, and incompetent that they don't need that level of automation.

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DDOS ATTACK by roman_mir · 2012-10-05 01:09 · Score: 2

Imagine the IRL DDOS of an airport.
Can you see it?
Bring a small aerosol canister of basically liquid shit and spray it inconspicuously on people's luggage. For better results bring a few cans with you with slightly different composition, mix powder traces of real explosives as well.
Do it as a flash mob across the globe and shut down the entire airline industry.

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You can't handle the truth.