Mag CrElec Issue 3 [28-6-11]

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  • 8/6/2019 Mag CrElec Issue 3 [28-6-11]

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    The electrocardiogram (ECG) is the recording on the

    body surface of the electrical activity generated byheart. It was originally observed by Waller in 1889

    using his pet bulldog as the signal source and the

    capillary electrometer as the recording device. In

    1903, Einthoven enhanced the technology by

    employing the string galvanometer as the recording

    device and using human subjects with a variety of

    cardiac abnormalities. Einthoven is chiefly

    responsible for introducing some concepts still in use

    today, including the labelling of the various waves,

    defining some of the standard recording sites using

    the arms and legs, and developing the first theoretical

    construct whereby the heart is modelled as a single

    time varying dipole. We also owe the EKG acronym

    to Einthovens native Dutch language, where the root

    word cardio is spelled with a k. In order to record anECG waveform, a differential recording between two

    points on the body are made. Traditionally, each

    differential recording is referred to as a lead.

    Einthoven defined three leads numbered with the

    Roman numerals I, II, and III. They are defined as

    where RA = right arm, LA = left arm, and LL = left

    leg. Because the body is assumed to be purely

    resistive at ECG frequencies, the four limbs can be

    thought of as wires attached to the torso.

    The evolution of the ECG proceeded for 30 years

    when F.N. Wilson added concepts of a unipolar

    recording. He created a reference point by tying the

    three limbs together and averaging their potentials so

    that individual recording sites on the limbs or chest

    surface would be differentially recorded with the

    same reference point. He erroneously thought that the

    central terminal was a true zero potential. However,

    from the mid-1930s until today, the 12 leads

    composed of the 3 limb leads, 3 leads in which the

    limb potentials are referenced to a modified Wilson

    terminal (the augmented leads), and 6 leads placed

    across the front of the chest and referenced to the

    Wilson terminal form the basis of the standard 12-

    lead ECG. These sites are historically based, have a

    built-in redundancy, and are not optimal for allcardiac events. The voltage difference from any two

    sites will record an ECG, but it is these standardized

    sites with the massive 90-year collection of empirical

    observations that have firmly established their role as

    The ECG is one of the oldest instrument-

    bound measurements in medicine. It hasfaithfully followed the progression of

    instrumentation technology. Its most recent

    evolutionary step, to the microprocessor based

    system, has allowed patients to wear their

    computer monitor or has provided an

    enhanced, high resolution ECG that has

    opened new vistas of ECG analysis and

    interpretation.

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    Cant find me copying

    The answer to the problem was

    "log(1+x)". A student copied the answer

    from the student next to him, but didn'twant to make it obvious that he was

    cheating, so he changed the answer

    slightly, to "timber (1+x)".

    the standard. The ECG signals are typically in the

    range of 2 mV and require a recording bandwidth

    of 0.05 to 150 Hz

    The heart has four chambers; the upper two

    chambers are called the atria, and the lower two

    chambers are called the ventricles. The atria are thin-walled, low-pressure pumps that receive blood from

    the venous circulation. Located in the top right

    atrium are a group of cells that act as the primary

    pacemaker of the heart. Through a complex change

    of ionic concentration across the cell membranes (the

    current source), an extracellular potential field is

    established which then excites neighbouring cells, and

    a cell-to-cell propagation of electrical events occurs.Because the body acts as a purely resistive medium,

    these potential fields extend to the body surface. The

    character of the body surface waves depends on the

    amount of tissue activating at one time and the

    relative speed and direction of the activation

    wavefront. Therefore, the pacemaker potentials that

    are generated by a small tissue mass are not seen on

    the ECG.

    As the activation wavefront encounters the increased

    mass of atrial muscle, the initiation of electricalactivity is observed on the body surface, and the first

    ECG wave of the cardiac cycle is seen. This is the P

    wave, representing activation of the atria. Conduction

    of the cardiac impulse proceeds from the atria through

    a series of specialized cardiac cells (the A-V node and

    the His-Purkinje system) which again are too small in

    total mass to generate a signal large enough to be seen

    on the standard ECG.

    There is a short, relatively isoelectric segment

    following the P wave. Once the large muscle mass ofthe ventricles is excited, a rapid and large deflection is

    seen on the body surface. The excitation of the

    ventricles causes them to contract and provides the

    main force for circulating blood to the organs of the

    body. This large wave appears to have several

    components. The initial downward deflection is the Q

    wave, The initial upward deflection is the R wave. In

    general, the large ventricular waveform is generically

    called the QRS complex regardless of its makeup.

    Following the QRS complex is another short

    relatively isoelectric segment. After this shortsegment, the ventricles return to their electrical

    resting state, and a wave of repolarization is seen as a

    low-frequency signal known as the T wave. In some

    individuals, a small peak occurs at the end or after the

    T wave and is the U wave. Its origin has never been

    fully established, but it is believed to be a

    repolarization potential.

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    The ambulatory or Holter ECG was developed by Dr.

    Holter in the early 1960s. The original large-scale

    clinical use of this technology was to identify patients

    who developed heart block transiently and could be

    treated by implanting a cardiac pacemaker. This

    required the secondary development of a device that

    could rapidly play back the 24 hours of tape recorded

    ECG signals and present to the technician or

    physician a means of identifying periods of time

    where the patients heart rate became abnormally low.

    The scanners had the circuitry not only to play backthe ECG at speeds 30 to 60 times real time but also to

    detect the beats and display them in a superimposed

    mode on a CRT screen. In addition, an audible

    tachometer could be used to identify the periods of

    low heart rate. With this playback capability came

    numerous other observations, such as the

    identification of premature ventricular complexes

    (PVCs). ECG tapes were recorded before and after

    drug administration, and drug efficacy was measured

    by the reduction of the number of PVCs. The scanner

    technology for detecting and quantifying thesearrhythmias was originally implemented with analog

    hardware but soon advanced to computer technology

    as it became economically feasible. Very

    sophisticated algorithms were developed based on

    pattern-recognition techniques and were sometimes

    implemented with high-speed specialized numerical

    processors as the tape playback speeds became

    several hundred times real time. This is a block

    diagram of microprocessor-based ECG system. It

    includes all the elements of a personal computer class

    system, e.g., 80386 processor, 2 Mbytes of RAM,

    disk drive, 640480 pixel LCD display, and battery

    operable. In addition, it includes a DSP56001 chip

    and multiple controllers which are managed with a

    real-time multitasking operating system.

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    All objects above the absolute zero temperature (0 K)

    emit infrared radiation. Hence, an excellent way to

    measure thermal variations is to use an infrared

    vision device, usually a focal planearray (FPA)infrared camera capable of

    detecting radiation in the mid (3 to 5 m) and long (7

    to 14 m) wave infrared bands, denoted as MWIR and

    LWIR, corresponding to two of the high

    transmittance infrared windows. Abnormal

    temperature profiles at the surface of an object are an

    indication of a potential problem.[3]

    In passive thermography, the features of interest are

    naturally at a higher or lower temperature than the

    background. Passive thermography has many

    applications such as surveillance of people on a scene

    and medical diagnosis (specifically thermology).

    In active thermography, an energy source is required

    to produce a thermal contrast between the feature of

    interest and the background. The active approach is

    necessary in many cases given that the inspected parts

    are usually in equilibrium with the surroundings.

    The CCD and CMOS sensors used for visible light

    cameras are sensitive only to the no thermal part of

    the infrared spectrum callednear-infrared(NIR).

    Thermal imaging cameras use specialized focal

    plane arrays (FPAs) that respond to longer

    wavelengths (mid- and long-wavelength infrared).

    The most common types

    are InSb, InGaAs, HgCdTe and QWIP FPA. The

    newest technologies use low-cost, uncooled micro

    bolometers as FPA sensors. Their resolution isconsiderably lower than that of optical cameras,

    mostly 160x120 or 320x240 pixels, up to 640x512 for

    the most expensive models. Thermal imaging cameras

    are much more expensive than their visible-spectrum

    counterparts, and higher-end models are often export-

    restricted due to the military uses for this technology.

    Older bolometers or more sensitive models such as

    InSb require cryogenic cooling, usually by aminiature Stirli

    ng

    cycle refrigerat

    or or liquid

    nitrogen.

    Thermal

    images,

    or thermograms, are

    actually visual

    displays of the

    amount of

    infrared

    energy emitted, transmitted, and reflected by an

    object. Because there are multiple sources of the

    infrared energy, it is difficult to get an accurate

    temperature of an object using this method. A

    thermal imaging camera is capable of performing

    algorithms to interpret that data and build an

    image. Although the image shows the viewer an

    approximation of the temperature at which the

    object is operating, the camera is actually using

    multiple sources of data based on the areas

    surrounding the object to determine that value rather

    than detecting the actual temperature.

    If the object is radiating at a higher temperature than

    its surroundings, then power transfer will be taking

    Thermography has been a

    boon to the every fields of

    life. It has been used in

    detecting swine flu,

    finding enemies in thedark, spotting people in

    the sea for rescue, etc.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_zerohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelvinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared_radiationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared_visionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared_visionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_plane_arrayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_plane_arrayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared_camerahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared_windowhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_imaging#cite_note-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_imaging#cite_note-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_imaging#cite_note-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surveillancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_diagnosishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge_coupled_devicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CMOShttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared#Different_regions_in_the_infraredhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared#Different_regions_in_the_infraredhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared#Different_regions_in_the_infraredhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_planehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_planehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InSbhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InGaAshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HgCdTehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QWIPhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbolometerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbolometerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixelshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolometerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryogenichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_cyclehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_cyclehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_cyclehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_nitrogenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_nitrogenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_transferhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_transferhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_nitrogenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_nitrogenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_cyclehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_cyclehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_cyclehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryogenichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolometerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixelshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbolometerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbolometerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QWIPhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HgCdTehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InGaAshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InSbhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_planehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_planehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared#Different_regions_in_the_infraredhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CMOShttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge_coupled_devicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_diagnosishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surveillancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_imaging#cite_note-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared_windowhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared_camerahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_plane_arrayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_plane_arrayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared_visionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared_visionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared_radiationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelvinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_zero
  • 8/6/2019 Mag CrElec Issue 3 [28-6-11]

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    In C we had to code our ownbugs. In C++ we can inherit

    them.

    HELP!!!

    Once a programmer drowned

    in the sea. Many Marines

    where at that time on the

    beach, but the programmerwas shouting "F1!!! F1!!!" andnobody understood it.

    place and power will be radiating from warm to cold

    following the principle stated in the Second Law ofThermodynamics. So if there is a cool area in the

    thermogram, that object will be absorbing the

    radiation emitted by the warm object. The ability of

    both objects to emit or absorb this radiation is

    calledemissivity. Under outdoor environments,

    convective cooling from wind may also need to be

    considered when trying to get an accurate temperature

    reading.

    The thermal imaging camera would next employ a

    series of mathematical algorithms. Since the camera is

    only able to see the electromagnetic radiation that is

    impossible to detect with the human eye, it will build

    a picture in the viewer and record a visible picture,

    usually in a JPG format.

    In order to perform the role of noncontact temperature

    recorder, the camera will change the temperature of

    the object being viewed with its emissivity setting.

    Other algorithms can be used to affect the

    measurement, including the transmission ability of

    the transmitting medium (usually air) and the

    temperature of that transmitting medium. All thesesettings will affect the ultimate output for the

    temperature of the object being viewed. This

    functionality makes the thermal imaging camera an

    excellent tool for the maintenance of electrical and

    mechanical systems in industry and commerce. By

    using the proper camera settings and by being careful

    when capturing the image, electrical systems can be

    scanned and problems can be found. Faults withsteam traps in steam heating systems are easy to

    locate.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Law_of_Thermodynamicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Law_of_Thermodynamicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emissivityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emissivityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emissivityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_eyehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JPEGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JPEGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_eyehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emissivityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Law_of_Thermodynamicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Law_of_Thermodynamics
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    Condenser means capacitor, an electronic component

    which stores energy in the form of an electrostatic

    field. The term condenser is actually obsolete but hasstuck as the name for this type of microphone, which

    uses a capacitor to convert acoustical energy into

    electrical energy.

    Condenser microphones require power from a battery

    or external source. The resulting audio signal is

    stronger signal than that from a dynamic. Condensers

    also tend to be more sensitive and responsive than

    dynamics, making them well-suited to capturing

    subtle nuances in a sound. They are not ideal for high-

    volume work, as their sensitivity makes them prone todistort.

    A capacitor has two plates with a voltage between

    them. In the condenser mic, one of these plates is

    made of very light material and acts as the diaphragm.

    The diaphragm vibrates when struck by sound waves,

    changing the distance between the two plates and

    therefore changing the capacitance. Specifically,

    when the plates are closer together, capacitance

    increases and a charge current occurs. When the

    plates are further apart, capacitance decreases and a

    discharge current occurs.

    A voltage is required across the capacitor for this to

    work. This voltage is supplied either by a battery in

    the mic or by external phantom power.

    Condenser microphones have a flatterfrequency response than dynamics.

    A condenser mic works in much the sameway as an electrostatic tweeter (although

    obviously in reverse).

    http://www.vtunnel.com/index.php/1010110A/25796f2073618b0f7ec004519c6133c00e63170aaace65b0324ac57245d59154a5f12acfb795c3a80503cfbf3c021ab50462dcf1d8f6891aa15215050http://www.vtunnel.com/index.php/1010110A/25796f2073618b0f7ec004519c6133c00e63170aaace65b0324ac57245d59154a5f12acfb795c3a80503cfbf3c021ab50462dcf1d8f6891aa15215050
  • 8/6/2019 Mag CrElec Issue 3 [28-6-11]

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    Anyone who's been through a prolonged power

    outage knows that it's an extremely trying experience.

    Within an hour of losing electricity, you develop a

    healthy appreciation of all the electrical devices you

    rely on in life. A couple hours later, you start pacing

    around your house. After a few days without lights,

    electric heat or TV, your stress level shoots through

    the roof.

    But in the

    grandscheme

    of things,

    that's

    nothing.

    If an

    outage

    hits an

    entire

    city, and

    therearen't

    adequate

    emergency resources, people may die from exposure,

    companies may suffer huge productivity losses and

    millions of dollars of food may spoil. If a power

    outage hit on a much larger scale, it could shut down

    the electronic networks that keep governments and

    militaries running. We are utterly dependent on

    power, and when it's gone, things get very bad, very

    fast.

    An electromagnetic bomb, or e-bomb, is a weapon

    designed to take advantage of this dependency. But

    instead of simply cutting off power in an area, an e-

    bomb would actually destroy most machines that use

    electricity. Generators would be useless, cars wouldn't

    run, and there would be no chance of making a phone

    call. In a matter of seconds, a big enough e-bomb

    could thrust an entire city back 200 years or cripple a

    military unit.

    The U.S. military has been pursuing the idea of an e-

    bomb for decades, and many believe it now has such aweapon in its arsenal. On the other end of the scale,

    terrorist groups could be building low-tech e-bombs

    to inflict massive damage on the United States.

    The basic idea of an e-bomb -- or more broadly,

    an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapon -- is pretty

    simple. These sorts of weapons are designed to

    overwhelm electrical circuitry with an intenseelectromagnetic field.

    If you've read How Radio Works or How

    Electromagnets Work, then you know an

    electromagnetic field in itself is nothing special. The

    radio signals that transmit AM, FM, television and

    cell phone calls are all electromagnetic energy, as is

    ordinary light, microwaves and x-rays.For our purposes, the most important thing to

    understand about electromagnetism is that electric

    current generates magnetic fields and changing

    magnetic fields can induce electric current. This

    page from How Radio Works explains that a simple

    radio transmitter generates a magnetic field by

    fluctuating electrical current in a circuit. This

    magnetic field, in turn, can induce an electrical

    current in another conductor, such as a radio receiver

    antenna. If the fluctuating electrical signal represents

    particular information, the receiver can decode it.A low intensity radio transmission only induces

    sufficient electrical current to pass on a signal to a

    receiver. But if you greatly increased the intensity of

    the signal (the magnetic field), it would induce a

    http://www.howstuffworks.com/radio.htmhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/electromagnet.htmhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/electromagnet.htmhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/light.htmhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/x-ray.htmhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/framed.htm?parent=e-bomb.htm&url=http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/radio3.htmhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/framed.htm?parent=e-bomb.htm&url=http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/radio3.htmhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/radio.htmhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/radio.htmhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/framed.htm?parent=e-bomb.htm&url=http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/radio3.htmhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/framed.htm?parent=e-bomb.htm&url=http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/radio3.htmhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/x-ray.htmhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/light.htmhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/electromagnet.htmhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/electromagnet.htmhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/radio.htm
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    much larger electrical current. A big enough current

    would fry the semiconductor components in the radio,

    disintegrating it beyond repair.

    Picking up a new radio would be the least of your

    concerns, of course. The intense fluctuating magnetic

    field could induce a massive current in just about any

    other electrically conductive object -- for example

    phone lines, power lines and even metal pipes. These

    unintentional antennas would pass the current spikeon to any other electrical components down the line

    (say, a network of computers hooked up to phone

    lines). A big enough surge could burn out

    semiconductor devices, melt wiring, fry batteries and

    even explode transformers.

    This idea dates back to nuclear weapons research

    from the 1950s. In 1958, American tests of hydrogen

    bombs yielded some surprising results. A test blast

    over the Pacific Ocean ended up blowing out

    streetlights in parts of Hawaii, hundreds of miles

    away. The blast even disrupted radio equipment as far

    away as Australia.

    Researchers concluded that the electrical disturbance

    was due to the Compton effect, theorized by physicist

    Arthur Compton in 1925. Compton's assertion was

    that photons of electromagnetic energy could knock

    loose electrons from atoms with low atomic numbers.

    In the 1958 test, researchers concluded, the photons

    from the blast's intense gamma radiation knocked a

    large number of electrons free from oxygen and

    nitrogen atoms in the atmosphere. This flood of

    electrons interacted with the Earth's magnetic field to

    create a fluctuating electric current, which induced a

    powerful magnetic field. The resulting

    electromagnetic pulse induced intense electrical

    currents in conductive materials over a wide area.

    During the cold war, U.S. intelligence feared the

    Soviet Union would launch a nuclear missile and

    detonate it some 30 miles (50 kilometers) above the

    United States, to achieve the same effect on a larger

    scale. They feared that the resulting electromagnetic

    burst would knock out electrical equipment across the

    United States.

    Such an attack (from another nation) is still a

    possibility, but that is no longer the United States'

    main concern. These days, U.S. intelligence is giving

    non-nuclear EMP devices, such as e-bombs, much

    more attention. These weapons wouldn't affect as

    wide an area, because they wouldn't blast photons so

    high above the Earth. But they could be used to create

    total blackouts on a more local level.

    The United States most likely has EMP weapons in its

    arsenal, but it's not clear in what form. Much of the

    United States' EMP research has involved high power

    microwaves (HPMs). Reporters have widelyspeculated that they do exist and that such weapons

    could be used in a war with Iraq.

    Most likely, the United States' HPM e-bombs aren't

    really bombs at all. They're probably more like super

    powerful microwave ovens that can generate a

    concentrated beam of microwave energy. One

    possibility is the HPM device would be mounted to a

    cruise missile, disrupting ground targets from above.

    This technology is advanced and expensive and sowould be inaccessible to military forces without

    considerable resources. But that's only one piece of

    the e-bomb story. Using inexpensive supplies and

    rudimentary engineering knowledge, a terrorist

    organization could easily construct a dangerous e-

    bomb device.

    The bomb consists of a metal cylinder (called

    the armature), which is surrounded by a coil of wire

    (the stator winding). The armature cylinder is filled

    with high explosive, and a sturdy jacket surrounds theentire device. The stator winding and the armature

    cylinder are separated by empty space. The bomb also

    has a power source, such as a bank ofcapacitors,

    which can be connected to the stator.

    Here's the sequence of events when the bomb goes

    off:

    A switch connects the capacitors to thestator, sending an electrical current through

    the wires. This generates an intense

    magnetic field. A fuse mechanism ignites the explosive

    material. The explosion travels as a wave

    through the middle of the armature cylinder.

    http://www.howstuffworks.com/diode.htmhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/microwave.htmhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/capacitor.htmhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/capacitor.htmhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/microwave.htmhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/diode.htm
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    As the explosion makes its way through thecylinder, the cylinder comes in contact with

    the stator winding. This creates a short

    circuit, cutting the stator off from its power

    supply.

    The moving short circuit compresses themagnetic field, generating an intense

    electromagnetic burst.

    Most likely, this type of weapon would affect a

    relatively small area -- nothing on the order of anuclear EMP attack -- but it could do some serious

    damage.

    The United States is drawn to EMP technologybecause it is potentially non-lethal, but is still highly

    destructive. An E-bomb attack would leave buildings

    standing and spare lives, but it could destroy a

    sizeable military.

    There is a range of possible attack scenarios. Low-

    level electromagnetic pulses would temporarily jam

    electronics systems, more intense pulses would

    corrupt important computer data and very powerful

    bursts would completely fry electric and electronic

    equipment.

    In modern warfare, the various levels of attack could

    accomplish a number of important combat missions

    without racking up many casualties. For example, an

    e-bomb could effectively neutralize:

    vehicle control systems targeting systems, on the ground and on

    missiles and bombs

    communications systems navigation systems long and short-range sensor systems

    EMP weapons could be especially useful in an

    invasion of Iraq, because a pulse might effectively

    neutralize underground bunkers. Most of Iraq's

    underground bunkers are hard to reach with

    conventional bombs and missiles. A nuclear blast

    could effectively demolish many of these bunkers, but

    this would take a devastating toll on surrounding

    areas. An electromagnetic pulse could pass through

    the ground, knocking out the bunker's lights,

    ventilation systems, communications -- even electric

    doors. The bunker would be completelyuninhabitable.

    U.S. forces are also highly vulnerable to EMP attack,

    however. In recent years, the U.S. military has added

    sophisticated electronics to the full range of its

    arsenal. This electronic technology is largely built

    around consumer-grade semiconductor devices, which

    are highly sensitive to any power surge. More

    rudimentary vacuum tube technology would actually

    stand a better chance of surviving an e-bomb attack.

    A widespread EMP attack in any country would

    compromise a military's ability to organize itself.

    Ground troops might have perfectly functioning non-

    electric weapons (like machine guns), but they

    wouldn't have the equipment to plan an attack or

    locate the enemy. Effectively, an EMP attack could

    reduce any military unit into a guerilla-type army.

    While EMP weapons are generally considered non-

    lethal, they could easily kill people if they were

    directed towards particular targets. If an EMP

    knocked out a hospital's electricity, for example, anypatient on life support would die immediately. An

    EMP weapon could also neutralize vehicles, including

    aircraft, causing catastrophic accidents.

    In the end, the most far-reaching effect of an e-bomb

    could be psychological. A full-scale EMP attack in a

    developed country would instantly bring modern life

    to a screeching halt. There would be plenty of

    survivors, but they would find themselves in a very

    different world.

    http://www.howstuffworks.com/machine-gun.htmhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/machine-gun.htm
  • 8/6/2019 Mag CrElec Issue 3 [28-6-11]

    11/11

    RAM

    Terminator

    Future cop

    Bio-

    tech

    clean-tech

    Silicon

    High-tech