01/16/02
By KEVIN COUGHLIN
STAR-LEDGER STAFF

Technology for keeping guns out of the wrong hands also might stop terrorists from seizing control of jetliners, scientists at the New Jersey Institute of Technology said yesterday.

Sensors embedded in the steering controls, or "yoke," would read the pilot's unique grip. If an intruder grabbed the yoke, an onboard computer would signal authorities on the ground to take remote control of the aircraft.

That's the concept, anyway. It's among 20 counter-terror proposals the Newark school is pitching to Picatinny Arsenal, an Army weapons research center in Morris County that seeks Pentagon funding for home-grown homeland defense.

The grip technology would mirror NJIT's efforts to program handguns to recognize squeeze patterns of authorized users. Researchers contend no two grasps are identical in the instant before a trigger is pulled. Tiny sensors in the gun grip are linked to a computer chip inside. The chip disables the gun when the wrong person takes aim.

"The idea is, the technology we're using doesn't require you to do anything different. Basically, you just fire the gun," said NJIT's Michael Recce, leader of the "smart gun" project that began in 1999 with a $1 million grant from the state Legislature.

"We want the same thing in a plane, so when a pilot grips the yoke, he has control. When he lets go, it's in control of the ground. A plane can be landed from the ground -- even on an aircraft carrier," Recce said.

A spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, however, said there are no standard procedures for landing jetliners via remote control; fighter planes were scrambled in a desperate bid to intercept hijacked jets on Sept. 11.

"Right now we're investigating new technologies," said the FAA's Holly Baker. "We're looking at all proposals."

Nor does NJIT have a lock on its smart-gun program. Continued funding remains up in the air, a potential victim of shifting federal priorities wrought by 9/11, according to Donald Sebastian, vice president for research and development.

Working with several gun manufacturers, in September NJIT hoped to secure $2.7 million from the National Institute of Justice. But Sebastian said the disaster put everything into a holding pattern. A spokesman for the National Institute of Justice said funding decisions now are expected in March.

NJIT is banking on a newly signed five-year partnership with Picatinny to deliver defense dollars for the gun project.

"We're out beating the bushes," said William Marshall, a former policeman and National Guard brigadier general who oversees weapons research at NJIT.

The school plans to test its smart gun -- a modified 9 mm Sig-Sauer P-228 from the New Jersey State Police -- at Picatinny firing ranges in coming weeks.

Sixteen pressure sensors, measuring just one millimeter across, are embedded in a coating on the pistol grip. The sensors were made in NJIT's $50-million "clean room," a chip lab more sterile than an operating room.

Tim Yang, part of the NJIT research team, won't bet his life on the smart gun. "Maybe in another two years," he said.

NJIT also is touting sensor chips for detecting biochemical agents like anthrax, and software for re-routing vital commercial traffic when airports are closed for security reasons.

Kevin Coughlin covers technology. He can be reached at kcoughlin@starledger.com or (973) 392-1763.