A team of scientists at MIT Lincoln Laboratory has engineered a throwable sensor, roughly the size of a baseball, that can be tossed into a suspect area to detect dangerous chemical threats.
The device, named TOSSIT, is aimed at military personnel, first responders and law-enforcement officers who need a rapid way to identify nerve agents, blister agents, industrial chemical accidents or even fentanyl dust.
Inside the sensor
Inside TOSSIT an internal camera captures color shifts on a removable dye card as the air it samples interacts with potential contaminants. When a hazardous substance is present the sensor triggers an audible alarm and sends a notification to a linked app.
A solution to an unmet need
Principal investigator Richard Kingsborough says the technology fills a critical gap for low-cost sensing of vapors and solid aerosol threats. After extensive field testing the capability is being transferred to the U.S. military, promising a new layer of protection for troops and emergency teams operating in contaminated environments.