Stun guns go wireless
New developments could see Taser-like technology going wireless extending its range and opportunity of use.
New developments could see Taser-like technology going wireless extending its range and opportunity of use.
Technology companies are looking to move away from the limited tethered Taser system and launch stun devices that can be fired from conventional hand-guns or with shotgun like weapons. One of the most promising developments is ShockRounds that fire electrical bullets at their target which can be up to 100 metres away. The bullets use what is known as the piezoelectric effect that can generate up to 50,000 volts by compressing piezoelectical crystals. However, its expected that the ShockRound bullets will be able to deliver a varying level of shock, from a jolt for riot control, to a full charge that can completely incapacitate a person.
Other Taser-like technologies are also being developed by a wide variety of companies who are all hoping to break away from the shock by wire mechanism that Taser guns use today. In the US, the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency has launched a research project into these weapons.
Lynntech are developing a projectile that can be fired from a shotgun that sticks to the body on impact and then delivers a shock of 80,000 volts. The system is similar to Taser and uses the pulse delivery system to carry the shock.
Midé Technology Corporation is developing a system that uses the Piezer effect just as the ShockRound technology. The projectile would be fired just as bean bag rounds are today and could have an effective range of up to 50 metres. Yet another technology this time in development from Physical Optics Corporation of Torrance, California is called the Inertial Capacitive Incapacitator. This technology uses a think-film storage device that carries a charge that is only discharged when the projectile hits its target.
