By Calvin Biesecker
STAFFORD, Va.–The Defense Department is likely to provide the best near-term opportunity for sales of Spectrum San Diego‘s new CarSCAN vehicle inspection system for use at checkpoints in war zones, a company official tells sister publication TR2.
International markets, in particular the Middle East, also represent short-term sales opportunities, says Rich Helstrom, vice president of Sales and Marketing at Spectrum San Diego.
Gaining traction with Customs and Border Protection, which is also a target market for CarSCAN, will likely take longer given their long test cycles, Helstrom says.
Spectrum San Diego introduced CarSCAN recently at the biannual Force Protection Equipment Demonstration (FPED) held at a regional airport near Northern Virginia. The X-ray system provides a top down imaging capability for rapidly inspecting cars and light trucks for any organic materials including explosives, contraband and stowaways while the occupants remain inside.
The dual-energy transmission penetrates though the entire vehicle and produces color-coded images for organic materials. Red outlines indicate organic material that’s between two and eight inches thick and yellow outlines highlight organic material between one and two inches thick. The system also provides dimensions and weight estimates, making it easier for an operator to interpret an image.
Spectrum San Diego calls its imaging technique K-Edge Switched Energy, with the two energy system allowing metal and organic objects to be electronically separated by advanced computer processing.
CarSCAN can be installed in about 12 hours, requires no trenching, and can fit into existing traffic lanes. The system can be operated at an unlimited standoff range, enhancing the security of operators.
CarSCAN was developed through funds from the federal interagency Technical Support Working Group. Helstrom says the unit that was being operated at FPED will soon be installed at a physics lab for a month of outdoor testing using multiple vehicles and loading configurations. Those tests will be followed by live tests managed by the Transportation Security Administration at an East Coast ferry terminal. Afterward, there will be another month-long test at a highly secure federal civilian building in Washington, D.C., he says.
Spectrum San Diego, which is a small technology innovator based in San Diego, has also developed two other security products, CastScope and SentryScope. CastScope is a partial body scanner used by TSA screeners at some aviation checkpoints to scan persons with casts and prosthetic limbs for concealed weapons and contraband.
Helstrom views the main competition for CarSCAN as American Science and Engineering‘s [ASEI] larger Z Portal backscatter imaging system. CBP is currently operating a single Z Portal at a land port of entry on the California border with Mexico to good reviews. The company already has a number of international and defense sales of the imaging system, which offers three views of a vehicle.