Device shuts down car engines with radio pulse

[n2doc]

By Chris Vallance

A British company has demonstrated a prototype device capable of stopping cars and other vehicles using a blast of electromagnetic waves.

The RF Safe-Stop uses radio frequency pulses to "confuse" a vehicle's electronic systems, cutting its engine.

E2V is one of several companies trying to bring such a product to market.

It said it believed the primary use would be as a non-lethal weapon for the military to defend sensitive locations from vehicles refusing to stop.

There has also been police interest.

The BBC was given a demonstration of the device at Throckmorton Airfield, in Worcestershire.



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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25197786

[djean111]

1. First thought - what could possibly go wrong.....

followed by oh, I am sure this will always be used when appropriate, like tasers and drones.
I really do think that some cars with On-Star systems or whatever can already be stopped remotely?
This would seem to be something that police would use against their own citizens to break up demonstrations or whatever, with no thought to consequences.
And - if the braking system and steering are shut down, what then? Plus - can it stop just the one vehicle, or are all vehicles in the proximity also affected?
I love the well, we don't think it will affect pacemakers thing.
Bet the first order of business is to make sure there is no liability for fuck-ups. Like when people get killed during high-speed chases now.

[yodermon]

2. sorry about that pacemaker bro n/t

[IADEMO2004]

7. Please add insulin pump and pain medication pumps to your list

and how ever many other devices.

[Vashta Nerada]

3. I wouldn't be surprised if these were installed in every new car.

[jeff47]

6. They don't have to be installed.

This device shuts down the electronics that run modern car engines.

[progressoid]

9. Doubt it, since it's as big as a car

[sabrina 1]

4. Can they be used on old cars?

And I wouldn't be surprised if they've already been 'tested', just to be sure they work of course.

[hunter]

5. Putting on my tinfoil hat...

... it may be just a dummy device to cover up a "feature" built into all modern cars.

Certain authorities can probably stop your car with a device as simple as the key fob you use to lock and unlock the doors. All they have to do is push the button and your car politely stops for them.

We bought a car that had been a rental in it's first life and it had a device wired into it that prevented the car from starting. The rental company must have forgot to remove it before they sold the car. (The car had been through several owners, so I didn't feel any obligation to find the device's original owner. It was part of the car my wife and I had full title to, therefore it was ours.) I removed the device and dissected it. Apparently it worked on the same system pager networks do. The rental company only had to dial a number and a code and their car wouldn't start.

It's a fair bet that such a system is built into all modern cars to save the rental, leasing, and finance companies the trouble of installing an after-market system.

My oldest car, without a computer, probably isn't going to pay any attention at all to this "blast of electromagnetic waves."

In many ways Orwell's "1984" has already arrived, it's just a lot more subtle than Orwell foresaw.

[Le Taz Hot]

8. I just want one that destroys

car stereos in which you can hear the bass 6 blocks away. I want one of those.

[progressoid]

10. Heh, I had the same thought.

I must be getting old.

[hobbit709]

18. Had one of those thumpa thumpa machines pull up in the parking lot.

I told the guy he could cure that low frequency vibration problem with a straight pin though the speaker wires.

[randome]

11. They stole that idea from Agent Cameron in Continuum!

[hr][font color="blue"][center]Don't ever underestimate the long-term effects of a good night's sleep.[/center][/font][hr]

[FSogol]

12. They should just give everyone a 2007 Jeep Wrangler. They do the electronic pulse thing from time

to time without any outside help.

[randome]

13. This was the 'press' demo. The first demo did not go so well.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]You should never stop having childhood dreams.[/center][/font][hr]

[Festivito]

14. Oops, sorry Mr. Wellstone. Were you ... up there?

Was Mr. Kennedy with you? Oh. He wasn't. Oh.

[Doc_Technical]

21. This was my first thought as well, Festivito.

n/t

[JHB]

15. And what sort of things will this do to nearby electronices in the field?

Especially if it gets funneled into the "police swag" market, and is used in ways that are a bit more expansive than the way the were advertised. (Think tasers, which were promoted as a nonlethal alternative to shooting people with firearms but in practice are used in plenty of situations where no sidearm would have been drawn.)

[Xithras]

16. Lots of inventors have come up with solutions for this. None have developed a practical one.

Back in the 90's I got to watch one being tested. It worked kind of like a spike strip in that the officer tossed a folding apparatus across the roadway, but instead of spikes, it had a number of nondamaging metal filaments that stuck up. Then the car hit the filaments, the computer would apply a massive electrical burst, alternating the polarity across the filaments and using the car to complete the circuit. The power would arc through the cars electrical system and shut it down.

The system worked perfectly, but it never went anywhere. Turns out that the police have NO problems carrying firearms, but are scared of carrying high energy electrical devices around in their cars.

[ThomThom]

17. well lets hope terrorists don't think of using bikes

or back packs
but on the other hand watch out for falling drones when they come to your neighborhood and the local gangs get this devise
police response could be slowed also, many uses for this devise
airplanes?

[One_Life_To_Give]

19. Another reason to get a Detroit Diesel

or maybe just a Hit-n-Miss.

[Archae]

20. I applaud this gadget!

You know how many people are killed or maimed every year from reckless drivers running from police in their cars?

Even AFTER chases are called off due to safety concerns?

Guy is trying to out-run the cops, cop pushes a button in his cop car, car trying to speed away conks out.

Perp gets a new ride, in the back of the cop car.

[Skidmore]

22. So if someone is speeding, let's say at 75mph, and the cop really wants to catch that speeder,

he just pushes the handy dandy button and the car just screeches to a halt. Assuming that it just doesn't stop cold but does need some coasting time even though the power is gone. However, the speeder is still speeding at 75 mph. Now that sounds like spectacular whiplash injuries or other types of injuries associated with suddenly stopped vehicles depending on whether or not the driver has a seatbelt on. Is there something about the laws of physics and motion that is different in this latest bit of technology devised to torture the planet?