Robotic Ferret Used To Fight Smugglers 54
Scientists at the University of Sheffield have created a device dubbed the "cargo-screening ferret" that is able to detect drugs, weapons, and even illegal immigrants concealed in cargo containers. The 30cm-long robot is equipped with tiny sensors that are more sensitive than any currently employed in conventional cargo scanners. The ferret will attach itself magnetically to the inside of a cargo container and sweep it for contraband, while sending a steady stream of information back to its controller. Project leader Dr Tony Dodd said, "It's essential we develop something which is simple to operate and which border agents can have total confidence in. The ferret will be able to drop small probes down through the cargo and so pinpoint exactly where contraband is concealed."
Mandatory post. (Score:1, Funny)
I, for one, welcome our new robotic ferret overlords.
yep it will be great.. (Score:3, Funny)
for ferreting out those pesky illegal immigrants
Smugglers deploy countermeasure (Score:5, Funny)
Robot ferret stymied by robot Bucky Katt.
no need (Score:4, Insightful)
I suspect these people will quickly learn the true meaning of uptime. If you deploy 100 of these to search 1000 containers on a ship and you have one of them fail on you or simply run down it's batteries, then you are going to be spending all your time in recovery operations trying to find behind what box in what container you lost the freak'in thing.
I don't expect robots to be as reliable as computers. Heck my roomba get's it self in trouble a significant number of times and it's only moving along carpet. (Frankly the roomba is amazing. the fact that it can get it self out of most trouble is an incredible feat. the fact that it still gets snagged just shows you how complex the real world is in providing unanticipated obstacles)
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Glad I wasn't the only one to think of Get Fuzzy. Still, robot Bucky Katt's seem easy to beat. Pin them down and they go into sleep mode: http://comics.com/get_fuzzy/2009-06-22/ [comics.com]
scale it down (Score:5, Funny)
Re:scale it down (Score:5, Funny)
So how long (Score:1)
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Perhaps both human and "ferret" anti-smuggling techniques will be used. Although, I'd be pretty pissed if I lost my job to a ferret.
According to the research site [shef.ac.uk], this is going to replace dogs and dog handlers the most:
The team are developing a device that matches the sensitivity of a sniffer dog yet avoids the problems of becoming distracted, tired or confused associated with using an animal. The compact robot, or 'cargo screening ferret', will be able to navigate cargo loads, and detect multiple illegal substances, even in low concentrations, using a series of specially-developed sensors.
From their government grant [epsrc.ac.uk]:
In this proposal we aim to develop a new approach to cargo screening where we take sensors to the contraband within cargo containers using mini-robots, providing rapid and highly sensitive detection of a range of contraband. A variety of technologies and methods are available and routinely used for the screening and detection of illegal substances and materials within cargo containers. These external screening systems are typically bulky, expensive and require ultra-high sensitivity as the sensor is remote from the cargo. Further, detailed investigation requires either time consuming unpacking of the cargo or the need for staff to enter the cargo putting them at risk of contamination from the contraband. This proposal addresses both the development of novel sensors and their delivery to the point of detection through the use of a robotic system / thus the sensing devices must be compact, low power and lightweight to be best tailored to use in this way. The development of effective sensors is designed to "make a difference" / to be able to detect specifically (and in very low concentrations) given illegal substances. The sensors developed are targeted to match the sensitivity of dogs in detecting substances, but not having the problem of distraction, tiring or confusion, with a much longer on-duty time, due to the inanimate nature of the sensor. The key advantage is that the sensors are able to detect multiple specific substances in compact devices ideally suited to mounting on the small robotic vehicle to be used for the delivery of the sensors to the region where the measurement has to be made.
So if you're a dog that relies on sniffing out cargo containers, you have about five years to look for other work.
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So if you're a dog that relies on sniffing out cargo containers, you have about five years to look for other work.
So the "John Henry" story of the 21st century will be between a dog and a robot ferret?
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You missed it - yo uhave to add the "electronic ferret" to EACH container, the idea is you won't have to open the container, the ferret will signal contraband are inside the container once detected.
That's all well and good until... (Score:4, Funny)
one by one your cargo containers end up missing, you chalk it up to random
coincidence every so often, then one day while doing inventory you find a
horde of socks^H^H^H^H^H^ *cargo* stuffed away in a cubby hole of your shipyard.
OK, really? (Score:1)
It attaches itself magnetically to the inside of the cargo container... Um, if you're already inside, is it really that hard to find the illegal immigrants?
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Depends on how they're packaged.
rat thing in the hold! (Score:4, Interesting)
millimeters: three hundred.
brain stem: assundered.
rat thing in the hold!
scurrying, truth be told!
upside down on the ceiling, go!
contraband ye be kneeling? ho!
rat thing takes 5ppm snorts:
coke! no joke! (retry/abort)?
Re:rat thing in the hold! (Score:4, Funny)
With probes that snoot and ferrule claws!
Beware the cargo rats, and shun
Their infradigious smugseeking maws!"
Already implemented in software (Score:1)
http://dataferrett.census.gov/ [census.gov]
Stupid (Score:2)
because what smuggler wouldn't notice the "electonic ferret" inside the container?
In round numbers we'd need what, about a bazillion of these ferrets to put a dent in drug traffic? (since it is one device per container)
And what, these things will run 24x7, so we'll know if anyone adds drugs while the container is in transit?
Seriously, how long would it take for a smuggler to compromise the electronics and rewire the "ferret" in their container to never report drug/contraband contents...
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Forget rewiring the damn things for your silly drug smuggling...
FREE SPARE PARTS!
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Re:Stupid (Score:4, Interesting)
I dunno about anyone else but this really feels like some major "Mission Creep" by those creeps in Washington.
Seems to me the real problem here is that nothing labeled "Security" ever gets ratcheted down. Every time there is a new security alert, new problem to look for, it becomes the mission, here on forever. We decide "Drugs are bad mmm'kay", so we start looking for them, and finding them...and looking some more.
Then finding drugs becomes all the justification we need to spend more and look harder.
Never is the question asked "Is this worth it?" "Is this still an effective use of our resources?" (was it ever?)
Such is the problem of being ruled by people who never have to actually pay for anything themselves. All they need to do is justify this years budget, and print as much money as they need to cover it.
I am still waiting for a single shred of evidence that there is a real danger here that needs government intervention. Still waiting to hear why we need to spend so much money on this sort of research.
Years and years of safe air travel go by, then with one incident, we feel the need to throw the baby out with the bathwater and revamp the whole system. The lack of attacks, which is errily similar to the lack of attacks before the one incident, is then justification that the system is working.
Its a wonder the system hasn't already fallen apart under its own weight with that sort of circular reasoning ruling the day.
-Steve
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A very good point. I mean, the technology isn't bad, and I can understand researching this sort of thing, its only the application that seems particularly hair brained and sounds like some serious mission creep by someone. As someone who spends more time than he should on the TSA blog (talk about mission creep), I tend to assume this sort of concept originates with them.
Overall, its just silly for its intended purpose. Smugglers will just shift tactics. I envision large operations just setting up a couple o
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because what smuggler wouldn't notice the "electonic ferret" inside the container? In round numbers we'd need what, about a bazillion of these ferrets to put a dent in drug traffic? (since it is one device per container)
I don't think you're following along with the rest of the class. They're not talking about adding these to all containers, they're talking about using these as tools to perform the inspections inside of these containers once they reach port. Currently, they use humans and dogs, which is expensive, time consuming, and according to TFA sometimes dangerous. This proposal is to use this new "ferret" (I also prefer marmot, unless it belongs to nihilists) to do the inspection instead of humans/dogs.
Some really famous last words.... (Score:3, Insightful)
"and which border agents can have total confidence in"
Replace 'border agents' with any group you want... and what they have confidence in does not matter. Total confidence in anything other than yourself is foolish at best. Can anyone in the US say Federal Reserve? Yes, I know, humans were in the loop on that one, but so are they on this one. Anything sold as the be all and end all or something you can have total confidence in is not familiar with how crooked border agents work. sigh. There were some folk with total confidence in electronic voting machines.....
I will go along with this as long as every time it fails the government makes a mortgage payment for me.
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"and which border agents can have total confidence in"
Replace 'border agents' with any group you want... and what they have confidence in does not matter.
Sure it matters! What they're really saying is that they have total confidence not in the robot ferret's contraband-finding ability, but in the robot ferret's border-agent-ass-covering ability. Check out these scenarios:
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Mod parent up. This is a very good point.
Pictures? (Score:2)
Seriously, why is it that so many news websites rarely have pictures to go with their stories?
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Great news! We all remember what a fiasco... (Score:1, Funny)
...the robotic gerbil was!
Lord of War (Score:2)
Robot Ferrets? (Score:4, Funny)
Didn't they open for Led Zeppelin back in '75?
Not Practical (Score:1)
A possible experiment (Score:1)
Voila! Schrodinger's ferret.
Mos Eisley Take 2 (Score:4, Funny)
Greedo: Jabba's through with you. He has no use for smugglers who drop their shipments at the first sign of an electronic ferret.
It's a paper launch (Score:2, Funny)
"He said working prototypes of the cargo-screening ferret could be ready for testing within two years, with potential deployment within around five years."
Seems sort of early to be claiming it's been created...
Small probes (Score:2)
"Hey, what's that ferret doing squatting over my cargo".
"No need to worry sir, those are probes".
I hope it's kind of like a ferret version of Daggit complete with rotating ears.
Robocop (Score:2)
Pants (Score:3, Funny)
Robot Gerbils? (Score:2, Funny)
"Used To Fight Smugglers"? (Score:2)
New requirement for slashdot front page (Score:2)
Can we please make it a requirement for front page articles about new technology that there at least be a working prototype in existence before the story is allowed on the front page?
If you keep just putting random crap like this up you might as well call slashdot something proper like QVC or HSN for scientists. This thing doesn't exist and they are telling us how great it works, theres no reason this should be on slashdot. If you're going to post shit like this, you might as well start posting stories ab