If a Los Angeles-area scientist has his way, car chases may become as antiquated as horse-mounted cavalry.

James Tatoian, chief executive of Eureka Aerospace in Pasadena, California, is developing a system that uses microwave energy to interfere with microchips inside cars. Once the chip is overloaded with excessive current, the car ceases to function, and will gradually decelerate on its own, he said.

. "If you put approximately 10 or 15 kilovolts per meter on a target for a few seconds, you should be able to bring it to a halt," Tatoian said.

Most cars built in the United States since 1982 have some type of on-board microprocessor. Today, the processors are advanced enough to control functions such as fuel injection and GPS equipment.

Eureka Aerospace's High Power Electromagnetic System consists of a series of wires arranged in a 5-foot-by-4-foot rectangular array. The interference is emitted in a conical shape outward from the device.

Tatoian said that while he is not the first to come up with the idea of using electromagnetic interference to stop cars, he has been able to reduce the size and power consumption of such a device so that it would be much more portable.

It is small enough such that it could be mounted onto a helicopter, or onto a law enforcement pursuit vehicle -- an application that interests the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Eureka Aerospace hopes to have a working prototype that the sheriff's department can test by late summer. The National Institute of Justice and the U.S. Marine Corps may also be potential early clients. The company's early tests indicate that the car-stopping device should be functional at a range of 300 feet.

Cmdr. Sid Heal, who evaluates technology for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, said that after seeing a preliminary demonstration of the device last year, he was very enthusiastic about its prospects.

"Everybody on the globe is interested in a technology like this," he said. "Every law enforcement agency and every military agency in the world will jump on this. I can say that with absolute confidence."

In current situations where police need to disable a car they are pursuing, sometimes the officers must resort to spike strips, which are designed to puncture the vehicle's tires. Heal said that with an electromagnetic interference system, a potentially dangerous outcome (such as loss of control from flat tires) could be avoided.

"The beautiful part of using the (microwave) energy is that it leaves the suspect in control of the car," he said. "He can steer, he can brake, he just can't accelerate."

Another benefit to such a technology, Heal said, is that it would give officers the ability to pinpoint where they want to stop a car -- on a freeway overpass, for instance -- which would limit a suspect's opportunities for escape.

"It's going to change law enforcement tactics," he said.

If the technology is able to prove worthy, it may also change the behavior of potential criminals. Heal said most people who lead police on car chases have never committed such an act before, and they might think twice if they recall the presence of such a device.

"You would automatically remember you can't get away," he said. "What I think we're going to get is compliance. That would be a breakthrough beyond anything of what anyone has provided in the past."

cheers
michael

 

Yeah, and when civilians start getting ahold of this technology, imagine what will happen...

...some guy cuts you off so you zap him with your microwave gun and watch him disappear in your rear-view mirror

 

MWHAHAHA ............ car thieves, muggers will have a field day stealing cars and god knows what else

We have to start working out a way to overide this system .............ANY IDEAS ?

Maybe installing lead around your ECU . OR MIRRORS ?? VIVA DE REVOLUTION .

cheers
michael

 

There are much better solutions than these already to go to market... but none of us will like what they do

 

Yeah thats great like thats going to avoid accidents.. Many car persuits are in back streets the last thing you want to do is shut down the power to a car as its powering through a corner and a lower gear. The car will end up upside down or into a house. Compression lock.

L&L when the time comes with the techology being released not long after we will figure a way to keep this away from cars or it can be made illegal :D

 

Perhaps a full body lead shield? May affect performance though..... :p

 

They won't be able to steal the car because it won't go anywhere

 

They will have the means to deactivate your ride car jackit and then reactivate it and away they go . :p

cheers
michael

 

Aren't Microwaves about the size of a pencil? Just put a screen mesh over your getaway car's ECU...the waves wouldn't be able to penetrate it...just like the mesh over your Kitchen's microwave oven.

Either that or simply choose a 69 Mustang in which to make your escape.

 

Haha....I'll mount one in my trunk! You know, for when I'm being chased by the police. All James Bond like, flip up the cap on the shift ****, and press the button...the trunk opens, and out rises this device, points it self at the police cars and fires! Mooohahahahaha! The world is mine! Moooohahahahahaa! :D

(Sorry, kid fantasies!)