Sensors

Beacon Components

Design - Sensors

One key aspect of our beacon is its ability to adapt to its environment through the use of additional auxiliary sensors. This makes our beacon ready for any situation, any battleground, and any environment. These sensors will collect information the military needs and, through the basic features of our beacon, will indicate anything from weather conditions to bilogicals in the atmosphere. This makes our beacon not just a red dot on a GPS map, but a fully functional lookout which demonstrates not only location but any number of environmental factors.

Because the confidential military developments are just that- confidential- this aspect of our project is open ended. We have compiled a list of things already extant which conceivably be auxiliary sensors, however the list in no way ends here- The Nuclear/Biological/Chemical Research department of the US Military is every day exploring new sensors, new tests, and new equipment with which our project can excel past any of the expectations laid out here. Here is a brief list of conceivable extensions to our beacon:

Geiger Counter: A constant fear worldwide is the presence of nuclear equipment and substances in the hands of dictators, terrorists, and warlords. It is only natural that the military has sensors which can measure the presence of radiation in an area, and there is no reason why we cannot incorporate this into our product. A Geiger counter is a device which measures just that; how irradiated an area is.

Motion Sensor: an exterior motion sensor, not unlike those on the commercial market now, is a very useful addition to our product. It will allow intelligence to learn whether an area is active, or silent. This is key in the environment in the Middle East today.

Camera: With cameras now incorporated into everything from Gameboys to cellular phones, it is completely conceivable for a low to medium camera to be an auxiliary attachment to our beacon.

Biological/Chemical Sensors: The US military has developed instruments which can detect and measure any biological agents (such as anthrax) or chemical agents (such as nerve gas). These measuring devices are ubiquitous throughout the world, utilized by police, emergency services, and militaries world wide. The United States has research facilities devoted to new, more efficient ways to detect agents. There is no reason why we cannot attach one suh sensor to our device.

Microphone: With constant advances in Intelligence technologies, attaching a microphone which can relay conversations across battle lines is changing the face of warfare. A compact microphone is an obvious possible attachment to our device.

Weather Sensors: A thermometer is only the beginning to possible additions regarding meteorology. Anything from a wind vane to a barometer can be added to the device. Weather can make or break an army, and he who commands the environment commands the battlefield. Understanding weather conditions is an integral part to intelligence gathering.

Physical Ports on the Beacon
Below is a picture of the back of the beacon, which has 2 ports, allowing for up to 2 external sensors to be attached to the beacon at one time. The reason we picked a RS-232 style connector was that it has 9 pins we can use for communication, allowing for more complex sensors. Our technical advisor, LTC Fleming stated that the military already has sensors that can be used with this device. However, the particular port type was not specified. Therefore, the port type used here may change for the final product.

Housing

The housing for the beacon holds all the internal circuitry, as well as the ports for the external sensors.

	Power Source

The beacon’s power source is one of the most important parts, as it needs to provide enough power to supply the wireless interfaces, as well as some external sensors.

	GPS Interface

The GPS interface provides the precise location of the beacon through a military-grade GPS design.

	FM Interface

The FM interface provides the link for the vital information collected by the beacon back to a central command point.

	Sensors

External sensors will provide the versatility our beacon needs. These sensors are interchangeable, to provide the most possible usability of our beacon.