Development
The machines were originally developed by Sandia National Laboratories in 1997. Prototypes have been under improvement since 2001 at the Science and Technology division of the Homeland Security Department of the United States. Sandia National Laboratories currently licenses its "puffer" preconcentration collection technology in collaboration with Syagen Technology in the production of the industry's only mass spectrometer-based puffer machine. According to an article in the 3 September, 2006, New York Times, they are also manufactured by General Electric and Smiths Detection (based in London) using Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS) technology at a cost of about $160,000 each. Delays in testing at the Homeland Security Department laboratory and questions about reliability have hindered their deployment. Early models were loud and slow, and required a lot of power. Durability has also been a concern. Trace portal machines are currently the only airport screening devices that automatically examine passengers for explosives.
Read more about this topic: Explosives Trace-detection Portal Machine
Famous quotes containing the word development:
“As a final instance of the force of limitations in the development of concentration, I must mention that beautiful creature, Helen Keller, whom I have known for these many years. I am filled with wonder of her knowledge, acquired because shut out from all distraction. If I could have been deaf, dumb, and blind I also might have arrived at something.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“And then ... he flung open the door of my compartment, and ushered in “Ma young and lovely lady!” I muttered to myself with some bitterness. “And this is, of course, the opening scene of Vol. I. She is the Heroine. And I am one of those subordinate characters that only turn up when needed for the development of her destiny, and whose final appearance is outside the church, waiting to greet the Happy Pair!””
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)
“I’ve always been impressed by the different paths babies take in their physical development on the way to walking. It’s rare to see a behavior that starts out with such wide natural variation, yet becomes so uniform after only a few months.”
—Lawrence Kutner (20th century)