Now Track That Gunshot With Your Smartphone!

A Team of researchers from the Vanderbilt University have developed a system that will help you track a gunshot in the neighbourhood.

Track Gunshot With Smartphone

Computer engineers from the Institute of Software Integrated Systems at the Vanderbilt University have developed a hardware module and an associated software that can transform an Android based smartphone into a device that pinpoints the position of the shooter. The technology and its capabilities were discussed at the 12th Association for Computing Machinery/IEEE Conference on Information Processing in Sensor Networks in Philadelphia.

All but low power firearms generate unique sonic signatures when they are fired. The Technology takes advantage of this fact as it helps in spotting the shooter’s location.

At first, a muzzle blast- an expanding balloon of sound spreads out from the muzzle whenever the gun is fired. Next, the bullets produce shockwaves as they traverse at supersonic velocities. The System, equipped with a string of sensitive microphones, a precision clock and a microprocessor, picks up the unique signature of the gun and accurately points in the direction and at the position the shot was fired from.  Subsequently, a map pops on the screen of the phone pointing at the position.

The device can prove to be of great help to security teams and other similar groups. There are two versions of this system. One depends on shockwave only and comes packed with four microphones per module requiring two modules to detect the location while the other one uses the services of six modules needing just one microphone per module. It uses both shockwave and muzzle blast to determine the trigger location.

A few years ago, a team of researchers also from the Vanderbilt University had developed a combat helmet for soldiers that helped in identifying sniper positions accurately.

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