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NPR 820 Local = NewsRoom

OSU = researchers=20 test "smart dust"
Carolyn Gramling

COLUMBUS, OH (2003-09-09) A team=20 of Ohio State University researchers is part of a consortium = of=20 universities developing large-scale applications for a = material=20 called "smart dust". On Monday, the researchers demonstrated = new=20 technology with a network of smart dust sensors.

A = car rolls=20 slowly between two lines of orange flags scattered across = the lawn=20 of the chemical abstracts service building just north of = Ohio State=20 University. The crowd of engineers and journalists gathered = to watch=20 then turns from the live display on the lawn towards a large = screen=20 set up in the shade of a tree, where a cartoon image of a = car has=20 appeared between two lines of red points.

Each of = these=20 points - or "motes" - represents a small, wireless sensor = integrated=20 with a "smart dust" device. The array of these sensors is = designed=20 not only to detect movement, but also to distinguish between = the=20 movement of metallic objects - such as vehicles and people = carrying=20 weapons - and nonmetallic objects, such as civilians without = weapons.

The OSU team, led by professor Arora, = is part=20 of a consortium of universities developing large-scale = applications=20 for "smart dust", a playful name for an innovative = technology that=20 uses tiny, inexpensive sensors that relay information to a = central=20 computer.

The potential applications for smart dust=20 technology are numerous; researchers have suggested that it = can be=20 used to monitor changes in light, temperature, and humidity, = to=20 track pollutants, pesticides and gas leaks, and to detect = nerve=20 agents and other biological weapons.

While other=20 universities focus on shrinking hardware and developing = software,=20 the OSU group is trying to test the limits of networking and = communication among the sensors. Arora's team uses a network = of=20 "motes" on the chemical abstracts lawn to demonstrate how = the=20 sensors can detect two separate "intruders with guns" played = by=20 graduate students carrying metal pipes. Determining that an = object=20 is a car, rather than a soldier with a gun, requires the = combined=20 efforts of more motes.

Prabal Dutta, a graduate = student in=20 OSU's department of electrical engineering and a member of = Arora's=20 team, says that the motes become a cooperative network, able = to=20 detect and track objects moving among them. At that point, = Dutta=20 says, a computer a few hundred feet away, or even a = satellite link=20 halfway around the world, can detect different types of = targets,=20 from people to soldiers to cars. Arora adds that the next = step is to=20 give the motes some sense of localization, to know where = they are=20 without being told. Telling each sensor where it is could = become=20 prohibitively difficult as the number of motes in an array = reaches=20 thousands or tens of thousands.