Wednesday, September 24, 2008
2008 R&D 100 Winner
More than 200 million cargo containers are used every year to transport 90% of the world’s cargo on trains, ships, and trucks. Ensuring the security of these containers has led researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Calif., jointly with researchers at the National Infrastructure Institute Center for Infrastructure Expertise, Portsmouth, N.H., and Secure Box Corp., Santa Clara, Calif., to create SecureBox: National Security Through Secure Cargo, a monitoring system for protecting cargo containers from unauthorized entry attempts. The smart intrusion sensor system monitors all six walls of the container and uses integrated communication equipment that reports irregularities at any point during container transit, even when buried in a stack of containers within a ship or container yard. SecureBox is inexpensive, reliable, reusable, and tamper-proof. It uses ultra-wideband communications to provide real-time monitoring and recording of the status of a container anywhere along the supply chain with minimal disruption to the flow of commerce.
Technology
Monitoring system for protecting cargo containers from unauthorized entry attempts
Developers
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
National Infrastructure Institute
Secure Box Corp.
U.S. Coast Guard
