Airport Bottle Screener for Liquid Explosives (Cobalt Light Systems Ltd.)
Lead Participant:
COBALT LIGHT SYSTEMS LIMITED
Abstract
In this project, a prototype is developed that leads to a novel product for screening liquids in
sealed containers at airports, to detect and identify liquid explosives. The prototype is based
on a proprietary technology called SORS, which was recently developed at the Rutherford
Appleton Laboratory. The project builds on the work funded under the Innovative Research
Call for Weapons & Explosives (2010) organised by the Home Office, which demonstrated
the proof of concept with a basic SORS prototype.
There is currently a well-defined market need for new devices to screen liquids in sealed
containers as the EU has set a date of April 2013 to relax the ban on carrying liquids in cabin
baggage. By that date, airport operators will be required to equip with new technology to
screen for liquid explosives as passengers will be allowed to carry unrestricted volumes on
board; the accessible market for new devices is estimated at >£100 million over 5 years.
Existing X-ray devices can be modified to screen liquids but do so with unacceptably high
false alarm rates (FAR). Consequently, alarm resolution devices are required which can
reliably screen sealed containers with a low FAR; unfortunately, devices currently available
have a FAR of about 10-20%. The output of this project will be a system with a very high
detection capability and an ultra-low FAR of 1-2% for common non-metallic containers. This
is highly desirable for airports since false alarms have a high associated cost in resources and
reduced passenger throughput. The device will be demonstrated to exceed required EU and
US standards for liquid explosive detection systems and will be manufactured in the UK. As
such this project has clear social and civilian-safety benefits as well as a high economic return
.
The project will cost £400,248 over 14 months. This is a time-bound opportunity due to the
fixed 2013 date for lifting the liquids ban and so two duplicate prototypes are built to
compress the timescale.
sealed containers at airports, to detect and identify liquid explosives. The prototype is based
on a proprietary technology called SORS, which was recently developed at the Rutherford
Appleton Laboratory. The project builds on the work funded under the Innovative Research
Call for Weapons & Explosives (2010) organised by the Home Office, which demonstrated
the proof of concept with a basic SORS prototype.
There is currently a well-defined market need for new devices to screen liquids in sealed
containers as the EU has set a date of April 2013 to relax the ban on carrying liquids in cabin
baggage. By that date, airport operators will be required to equip with new technology to
screen for liquid explosives as passengers will be allowed to carry unrestricted volumes on
board; the accessible market for new devices is estimated at >£100 million over 5 years.
Existing X-ray devices can be modified to screen liquids but do so with unacceptably high
false alarm rates (FAR). Consequently, alarm resolution devices are required which can
reliably screen sealed containers with a low FAR; unfortunately, devices currently available
have a FAR of about 10-20%. The output of this project will be a system with a very high
detection capability and an ultra-low FAR of 1-2% for common non-metallic containers. This
is highly desirable for airports since false alarms have a high associated cost in resources and
reduced passenger throughput. The device will be demonstrated to exceed required EU and
US standards for liquid explosive detection systems and will be manufactured in the UK. As
such this project has clear social and civilian-safety benefits as well as a high economic return
.
The project will cost £400,248 over 14 months. This is a time-bound opportunity due to the
fixed 2013 date for lifting the liquids ban and so two duplicate prototypes are built to
compress the timescale.
Lead Participant | Project Cost | Grant Offer |
|---|---|---|
| COBALT LIGHT SYSTEMS LIMITED | £400,248 | £ 180,111 |
Participant |
||
| UNIVERSITY OF YORK |
People |
ORCID iD |