Walk-through Metal Detector Testing and the Need to Emulate Natural Body Motion

Published

July 5, 2018

Author(s)

Nicholas G. Paulter Jr., Donald R. Larson, Nicklaus F. Troje

Abstract

The effect of motion through the portal of a walk-through metal detector (WTMD) has often been considered to contribute to the uncertainty in detecting threat objects being carried through the WTMD. However, typical metrological testing uses a robotic system, or similar, to push a test object through the portal with a trajectory that is a straight line and has a constant velocity. This testing, although reproducible and accurate, does not present other than rectilinear trajectories. On the other hand, testing using clean testers, that is, people not carrying any metal objects other than the test object, is not reproducible or accurate because of the great variation between transits through the portal from any one clean tester. We report using a robotic system to accurately study the effect of non-straight-line trajectories of different velocities for the test object passing through the portal of the WTMD.

Citation

ASTM Journal of Testing and Evaluation

Volume

47

Issue

1

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

DOI Link

Keywords

metal detector, natural body motion, rectilinear trajectory, detection performance testing, orientation, orientation effects, trajectory, walk-through metal detector

Citation

Paulter, N. , Larson, D. and Troje, N. (2018), Walk-through Metal Detector Testing and the Need to Emulate Natural Body Motion, ASTM Journal of Testing and Evaluation, [online], https://doi.org/10.1520/JTE20170342 (Accessed October 14, 2025)