Researchers at the National Center of Excellence in Technology for Internal Security (NCETIS) of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, have designed a hand-held explosive detection device that can detect explosives.
Director, Subhasis Chaudhuri, on Tuesday, announced that some units of the device were now being used by the Travancore Devaswom Trust in Sabarimala, Kerala.
“We have been asked by the Trivandrum Police to give a live demonstration for the department procurement,” said Seema Periwal, a senior programme manager for NCETIS. Six units of BEAGLEZ are also in use by three departments of the Indian Army.
BEAGLEZ is a light-weight hand-held device that can detect Trinitrotoluene (TNT), hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX), Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), Semtex and other plastic explosives used in home-made, military explosives and improvised explosive device (IED).
The device can find application in screening people, checkpoints, post-blast search, vehicles, buildings, terrorist hotspots, places of importance, crowded establishments and environment.
BEAGLEZ was designed and commercialised by a team of researchers led by Anil Kumar, professor in the department of chemistry at IIT Bombay, in collaboration with Bigtec Labs, a Bengaluru-based science and technology company. The device has sensitivities that can be at par with canines.
The first two units of BEAGLEZ were donated by Bigtec to the temple trust in Sabarimala which has now shown interest in buying the product.
{{/usCountry}}The first two units of BEAGLEZ were donated by Bigtec to the temple trust in Sabarimala which has now shown interest in buying the product.
{{/usCountry}}The device uses Amplifying Fluorescent Polymers (AFP) for detection. AFPs are conjugate polymers that exhibit solid-state fluorescence when excited by light of a particular wavelength. “There’s a polymer coating on the sensor of the device. A capillary unit sucks air in and when the air passes over this coating, the coating glows. However, if there is an explosive in the air, the polymer will stop glowing,” said Kumar.
While the device has a worldwide patent for its technology, it also has three device other design patents to its name. “We are constantly working on improving the design and we are adhering to global standards for the same,” said Kumar.
Bigtec is the only indigenous manufacturer of the hand-held explosive detector. “BEAGLEZ is the smallest and lightest in its category and doesn’t require any extra accessories. While an import brand of the hand-held detector can cost approximately ₹18 to 22 lakhs, the selling price of BEAGLEZ is priced in the range of ₹12 to 15 lakhs depending on the volumes,” said Periwal.
“We believe that BEAGLEZ will play a catalytic role towards the ‘Make-in-India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiatives. We look forward to seeing the use of this product at various strategic places,” said Chaudhuri.