Scientists create protective windows
space age movement detection
POTSDAM, Germany (UPI) — German scientists say they have created windows and doors that can detect suspicious movements before a crime is committed and, if necessary, sound an alarm.
keep an eye out
A motion sensor developed at the Fraunhofer Institutes for Applied Polymer Research in Potsdam and by Computer Architecture and Software Technology in Berlin can enable window panes and glass doors to detect movements because of a special polymer coating.
“The glass is coated with a fluorescent material,” said IAP group manager Burkhard Elling. “The coating contains nanoparticles that convert light into fluorescent radiation.”
burglar
He said an ultraviolet lamp “illuminates” the window panes and generates fluorescent radiation in the coating that is channeled to the edges of the window, where it is detected by sensors. If someone steps into the light, less light reaches the coating and less fluorescent radiation is produced. If several sensors are installed on all four sides of the window frame, conclusions can be drawn from the data as to how fast and in what direction an object is moving.
Elling said size can also be estimated by the sensors. Is it a small creature such as a bird or is it a person? The threshold for the alarm can be set, so that moving objects the size of birds, for example, do not trigger an alarm.
flying bird
IT IS SAID THAT WALLS HAVE EARS-WINDOWS
NOW WINDOWS ANDÂ DOORS HAVE EYES
A demonstrator system already exists, and the researchers now say they plan to refine the technology.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International
Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 24th March 2009