Engineers at GE's lab have been studying morpho butterflies to at least somehow figure out what makes it a fluorescent-colored coat. The findings drive the development of radio frequency (RF) sensors that can detect explosives and other chemicals.
Radislav Potyrailo, chief scientist of chemical sensing, is leading a detector project team at GE Global Research Center. He spent several years studying the scales on the wing of the butterfly, and found that when chemical molecules were attached, the complex structure of the scale could absorb light and bend the light. This is why the butterflies such as the big butterfly are scattered.
This device consists of two parts: a sensor tag and a tag reader. The sensor is a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag wrapped in a layer of advanced chemical detection film. The reader is a battery-powered hand-held reader, about the size of a cell phone.
A GE blog post explained that light and radio waves are very similar, which opens the door for the use of RF sensors. This film is only one-tenth of the thickness of the hair, and it can be made to work with very little power—it's all possible thanks to a combination of materials science, nanotechnology, chemistry, and data analysis. People who drive to and from work will become familiar with RFID tags. It is similar to the automatic highway payment technology on the windshield of a car, except that it has no battery.
This miniature device may be a game changer in the detection of dangerous items such as chemical auxiliaries and explosives. Current detection work requires large expensive equipment such as spectrum analyzers and chromatographic analyzers. The price of this new sensor is estimated to be between 5 and 50 cents, and it is only 3% of the existing airport desktop detectors, and its power consumption is only 1 percent of the latter. Various security checkpoints can use it to take risks and prevent them from happening.
Currently, only a limited number of companies can provide this sensor, which is understandable, but we can find more information about this device on Kemsense's website (Kemsense is a partner of GE).
One of my findings during our visits to manufacturers and inventors was the deep knowledge of the company's research laboratories and how these insights were used by the business and manufacturing communities—often with little attention. I wrote in a previous article:
"Most components or products made by 3D printers cannot be thought of. They don't have brains or sensors. In a recent interview with GE, the global research team took me through the many new concepts and technologies that they are developing. The most interesting of these is what they call Direct Write. This development will allow you to create smarter 3D printed parts, such as sensors."
What makes me excited is that when these sensors are in the hands of various manufacturers and inventors, they can add value to them by expanding the scope of application of this technology. Current detection equipment may be inadequate in front of 3D printing guns or weapons, but perhaps someday, these sensors can come in handy, in addition to detecting explosives can also detect criminals carrying 3D printing weapons and stop their criminal activities. If 3D technology can print dangerous goods and put them into illegal use, we hope that such technologies can be followed in a timely manner, and such sensors are increasingly being manufactured using 3D printing.
In 2014, I spent 8 months driving to visit 3D printing, 3D scanning and 3D design. Part of the trip was sponsored by Autodesk, HP, Nvidia, Stratasys, Faro, and Jayco.
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