Electromagnetic Pulse Gun Stops Cars Cold

[Are_grits_groceries]

Picture it: a routine roadside stop goes sideways when the driver refuses to pull over, starting what would normally become a high-speed chase. But rather than endangering lives and chasing after at high speed, the police officer hits a button on the dash, causing a panel on the car's roof to emit a burst of energy and the fleeing car simply coasts to a stop. Sound like science fiction? Well it's not.

Or at least it won't be soon. Scientists at Eureka Aerospace have developed an electromagnetic pulse gun called the High Powered Electromagnetic System, or HPEMS. It develops a high-intensity directed pulse of electricity designed to disable a car's microprocessor system, shutting down all of its systems.

Right now the prototype fills an entire lab, but they have plans to shrink its size to hand-held proportions. There are, of course, some kinks to work out, such as how to ensure the car will still be able to stop safely--an increasingly valid concern with more widespread use of electric power steering units and the need for hydraulic brake assistance.

It's worth noting that GM already features similar capabilities on its OnStar-equipped vehicles, though the electromagnetic signal used to disable the vehicle is beamed via satellite, and doesn't cripple the in-car computer, but rather puts it into a mode that allows police to easily catch and then stop the fleeing criminal.
http://www.motorauthority.com/blog/1041891_electromagnetic-pulse-gun-stops-cars-cold

May take a while to produce a practical version. Then, this should be interesting...........

[midnight]

1. Safety is more important than anything.... I'm glad they have more safety tools

to help keep us all safe.... Because I love safety more than anything..... Safety above all else.... And letting others determine what is safe for me is ok..... As long as safety is the main goal.....

[Are_grits_groceries]

2. Theory is great.

I want to see how a real version on a police car works.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

8. Take a mountain.

Take an icy mountain road.
Take an anxious, badly trained, small town cop, with a cop car festooned with so many lights that it resembles a christmas tree. (the more lights they carry, the less training the cops usually have)
Take a speeder or an other alleged minor league crook.
As the cop overreacts, and uses his new fangled hi-tech weapon on said driver, heading down a curvy, icy, mountain word . . . .

you fill in the blank.

[old mark]

3. Yeah, I especially like the police determining what is safe for me -

I wonder if it would stop my pacemaker.....


mark

[midnight]

7. Safety monitors probably have not even considered that.... They are too busy

making money, I mean making safety.....

[HillbillyBob]

16. Yes it would fry your pacemaker, cell phone, the cars computer

not just disable, but fried. If they are trying to stop a stolen car then the owner would lose it , I mean yea its been stole, but would not be worth having after that except for parts since it would fry the radio, and all those sensors for brakes, air bags etc.

As much as I would not want OnStar to shut me down that is the better option.

[panzerfaust]

11. Likely it would.

Good point.

I had not thought of that.

There are also many other implanted medical devices which could cause severe injury or death if affected by EMP: Spinal cord stimulators, deep brain stims, vagal nerve stims, implanted insulin infusion pumps ...

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

15. Maybe a copper chain mail vest

and you'll be able to flee the cops without a care.

But of course the cops will be able to aim these things so they only affect the vehicle being pursued. Innocent pacemaker-using bystanders will feel no affect.

:hi:

How do pacemakers stand up against tasers?

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Codeine]

49. That post is straight outta Freetown.

Alerted

[paulsby]

35. pacemakers stand up JUST FINE

against tasers.

[Juche]

4. Good

I wondered why it was taking so long to invent one of these. I wonder how they avoid disabling nearby cars though. How good does the aim need to be?

[paulsby]

36. realistically speaking, disabling nearby cars

even if it happened (temporarily) is not a huge deal. think about it. if a speeding recklessly driven vehicle that is eluding police can be stopped without any harm to life (cops, suspects or others) is the minor inconvenience of your car being disabled for a few minutes IF it is in immediate proximity to the suspect vehicle a worthwhile tradeoff?

i would say yes.

much better than getting held up in traffic for an hour due to a road closure for a fatality accident, or getting rammed into by the eluding vehicle

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

5. and when cops use it as easily as stunguns, and fry cars by misstake?

[DonkeyHoTay]

6. Is this the same electromagnetism that Sec Cohen talked about?

“Others [terrorists] are engaging even in an eco-type of
terrorism whereby they can alter the climate, set off
earthquakes, volcanoes remotely through the use of
electromagnetic waves… So there are plenty of ingenious minds
out there that are at work finding ways in which they can
wreak terror upon other nations…It's real, and that's the
reason why we have to intensify our [counterterrorism]
efforts.” 
Secretary of Defense William Cohen at an April 1997
counterterrorism conference sponsored by former Senator Sam
Nunn. Quoted from DoD News Briefing, Secretary of Defense
William S. Cohen, Q&A at the Conference on Terrorism,
Weapons of Mass Destruction, and U.S. Strategy, University of
Georgia, Athens, 

Apr. 28, 1997. 

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

22. What you're describing seems to be what people are attributing to HAARP

[Junkdrawer]

9. So they're going to Wellstone car thieves. Interesting. n/t

[panzerfaust]

10. Gee - perhaps my 1972 3/4 ton pickup would be worth more now

Since kinda doubt that the in-line six cylinder carburetted engine will shut down when exposed to an EMP ... in much the same way that cold-war era Migs would not have been affected by EMP - vs our electronics dependent fighters of the same era. And, yes, actually did elude the police once in that truck - though by guile, not by blinding speed.

Wonder how focused the EMP could be made - as in how many vehicles, other than the target, would also be shut down.

Likely be safer than wild-ass cop car chases though, which kill a certain number of innocents each year.

[ngant17]

14. some engines can be converted to points/carb again

such that you only need one wire from the coil to produce a spark.

The older Chrysler K-cars w/2.2 and 2.5 motors can be converted this way. And lots of the old V8s can be used to eliminate electronic controls for engine fuel/ignition management.

[jmowreader]

28. Here's my real fear...

A young police officer with a beautiful wife and two darling children (this story wouldn't have the same impact if it was a childless middle-aged sergeant with two divorces, a plain wife and a half-eaten box of donuts in the passenger seat, you know) presses the "disable bad guy" button on the dash of his new Dodge Charger to stop two murder suspects in a fleeing Trans Am. Instead of disabling the criminal's car, the EMP destroys the electronics in the cruiser--including the officer's radios and laptop. The criminals, noticing the Charger has gone dead in the water, turn around and murder the noble patrolman with a 12-gauge shotgun.

As the widow's tears stream down her pale cheek during the officer's funeral service, the old captain shakes his head ruefully as he mutters to the chief, "if we'd only taught our officers how to apprehend suspects instead of relying on ray guns and camouflage for bad policing, this officer would be with us today." The chief looks at the captain..."you're right, Captain; I knew the young man, and he was a good kid. He would have been a cop one day."

[PJPhreak]

42. If I remember correctly...

A strong EMP would still stop a 250/292 six...tho there is no "Chips" in these engines there is still Diodes in charging system (Alt) and a condenser in the ignition system...don't quote me but if I am correct in the case of a large nuclear explosion any running auto would stop running after the battery ran down,if not when the ignition parts (condenser) burnt out.

It might effect the coil as well.

[eShirl]

12. Don't worry, I'm sure it doesn't affect any other electronic devices

like your laptop, cell phone, iPod...

[sendero]

32. Oh yeah..

... I realize you are probably being sarcastic, but in case others don't get it I'm pretty sure this is a mini EMP weapon and it will screw up every semiconductor-based device in its path.

Just because something is technically possible doesn't make it a good idea.

This is most definitely not a good idea.

[truedelphi]

34. There was nothing to see or worry about concerning

Wellstone's plane crash on a cold Oct morning.

Never mind the person who reported that his garage door went up and down on its own. (His garage in close proximity to the crash.)

Never mind that the government has had this kind of device for at least ten years.

Nothing to see -- please go on home.

[hvn_nbr_2]

45. Electronic devices, like human brains, hearts, pacemakers... nt

[leveymg]

13. Let's see them try to stop this one>

No microprocessors. Macro everything.

[AndyA]

17. It won't work on older cars that don't have computers.

And it will get expensive if the thing is aimed wrong and kills other vehicles in the vicinity. I wouldn't think most cities could afford to repair large numbers of vehicles that became disabled due to the poor aim of a panicked rookie officer.

[MicaelS]

19. I'd like a private version of this...

That only fries the audio system of one of these "boom-cars". :bounce:

[jmowreader]

20. The new getaway car of choice: old Camaro with points and a carb

Point ignition: no microprocessor in the firing system.

Carburetor: no microprocessor in the induction system.

No microprocessors: fuck you, copper, your ray gun won't work on me.

Big ass engine: capability to OUTRUN a front-wheel-drive cop car with a V-6 in it.

BTW, how do they keep the backlobe from frying the police car's computers?

[TxRider]

21. Or a diesel

Though some newer diesels have computers too.

[jmowreader]

23. ALL newer diesels have computers

The bad guys could look at older mechanical diesels, like old diesel Rabbits...but if a crook is driving a diesel Rabbit you can bust him the old-fashioned way.

[piedmont]

27. They'll be classified as "assault vehicles" and banned. nt

[ensho]

24. the reality show Bait Car uses them plus they can lock the doors

and keep them locked.

[kudzu22]

25. The bait car has a remote kill switch

not an EMP. Not the same thing at all.

[ensho]

26. oh, thanks for the info

nt

[paulsby]

37. we've used bait cars before

they work brilliantly.

RCMP loves them too.

one attorney was claiming it was "entrapment" to leave a nice car with the engine running, and keys in the vehicle. usually with bait cars, we leave them off, but you can leave them running too.

entrapment is defined as actions that would entice a person NOT predisposed to the criminal activity to be so tempted that he would now be disposed to commit the crime.

most law abiding people seeing a car running with the keys in it, would not steal that car.

in fact, on really cold mornings, a LOT of people do this in their driveway, and are surprised when their car is stolen

or my other favorite "i just ran in to the store for a cup of coffee!" while leaving their engine running.

[jberryhill]

38. I often move such cars to a better parking space

...as a courtesy to the driver.

Umm... yeah... that's what I was doing.

[paulsby]

41. lol. my favorite story

was in the local news. this guy comes home to find a strange van parked in his driveway. guys are inside his house burglarizing it. he calls 911 and ... TAKES their van and drives it off, effectively getting rid of their getaway vehicle. neighbor says when the burglary came out of the house and saw their van was gone, the look on their face was PRICELESS.

article said the first cop on the scene, when told by the victim, that he "stole" the suspects' car, could not stop laughing.

i thought that was very creative. needless to say he did not get into trouble, although the burglars did.

[HooptieWagon]

29. Given cops lack of judgement/training using TASERs on pedestrians...

...I don't think giving them "turbo tasers" to use on moving vehicles is a good idea. It appears technology is out-pacing the ability of the average person to handle it, and I don't think local/state law enforcement is going to invest in extensive scientific and psychological training.

[Bluebear]

30. 'technology is out-pacing the ability of the average person to handle it'

Well said.

[Cetacea]

31. Don't HPEMS me, bro!

Safe like Tasers?

[underpants]

39. LOL

yeah... what could possibly go wrong???

[backscatter712]

33. The OnStar solution has safety advantages, but Big-Brother disadvantages.

The way the OnStar solution works, the cops call OnStar, give them your license plate number, they send a signal via OnStar to your car's computer, which essentially forces the engine to idle, so your car slows, then automatically stops, while power-steering and braking still work. Also, it doesn't physically damage anything in the car - once the car's stopped, impounded, and recovered by the owner, the computer can be reset and the car's back to normal. EMP fries car computers, making for very expensive repairs.

Of course, the disadvantage is that your car is bugged. OnStar captures the voice of drivers & passengers when it wants, broadcasts its GPS coordinates, etc. etc. etc. Not everyone wants that sort of capability built into their car.

[underpants]

40. And we don't need the aliens from District 9 to fire them?

That's GOLD baby!!

[BrotherLove]

43. And if you have a pacemaker ...... you're stopped forever?

[Jkid]

44. It will create dependance on those devices.

They should still train for old-school methods of ending high speed pursuits.

[creeksneakers2]

46. If people know the police can do this

Perhaps they won't run to begin with.

[Raster]

47. "Right now the prototype fills an entire lab, but they have plans to shrink its size to...

...hand-held proportions."

How long before bad people co-opt this technology for evil and nefarious purposes, like knocking small, private-type airplanes out of the sky? Hmmm, wait a minute...

[uppityperson]

48. Most cars have power steering/brakes. Would they be steerable/brakeable if hit with this?

If engine is shut off, they will have problems.

[proteus_lives]

50. Interesting.....The future is now.