Electronic ‘sniffer dog’ tested at Glasgow airport

Thursday, 11th November 2010

A new walk-through explosives scanner is being tested by airport security officials in Glasgow that could eliminate any need for travellers to remove their shoes or other pieces of clothing. If brought into full service, the device could lead to much shorter queues at airport security.

Though the device looks very much like the existing walk-through metal detectors, the new scanner actually uses lasers to perform much like an electronic sniffer dog. It ‘sniffs’ the air, hunting for evidence of explosives.

The scanner has been developed jointly by Cascade Technologies, which is based in Stirling, and Morpho, a French company. Glasgow was chosen for testing because it is close to where the machine has been developed.

The equipment has been in testing since October, with all passengers at the airport walking through the scanner. The work of the machine was only announced yesterday after the trial began successfully.

The scanner does not work like X-ray machines and captures no images of passengers. It is based on technology already in use for the detection and monitoring of gases in industry. It can screen up to one passenger a second and generates test results almost instantly.

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