A Benchmark Dataset for Concealed Improvised Explosive Device Detection in X-ray Security Imaging


Threat detection in X-ray security screening is critical for preventing concealed threats in airports and other high-security venue where Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) remain among the most persistent and dangerous threats.

The lack of a representative, and publicly available IED dataset has limited the development of machine-learning based automated threat detection systems. To address these issues, we propose an open access dataset, called IEDXray constructed for automated detection of IEDs. The dataset comprises 17,360 X-ray images captured under a strategic concealment protocol, covering scenarios ranging from isolated threats to heavily cluttered baggage environments. It includes diverse IED types—homemade explosives, batteries, and modified devices such as laptops, mobile phones, pagers, and walkie-talkies.

Read more…
Source: Springer Nature News


Sign up for the Counter-IED Report Newsletters
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox


Related:

  • DHS S&T Funds Solution to Increase Efficiency of Air Cargo Screening

    March 5, 2019

    Air Cargo skids and pallets take up a large amount of space on every commercial passenger flight.  Federal law requires this cargo be screened at the same level as checked baggage.  Single and dual energy X-ray systems can be scaled up to screen air cargo skids, but they produce two-dimensional views of air cargo that ...

  • Paper strip that detects explosives could shake up airport security, Edmonton researcher says

    February 22, 2019

    Christina Gonzalez can detect explosives with a single strip of paper. Gonzalez, an Edmonton-based researcher, has developed a disposable test strip capable of instantly detecting explosive materials including traces of TNT, the compound used in dynamite. While the paper strip may look like plain card stock there is more than meets the eye. “Essentially, we have a stock ...

  • Guard members to see expanded use of robots

    February 5, 2019

    The use of robots continues to grow within the National Guard and Guard members are likely to soon see additional robots with expanded capabilities, said an Army National Guard acquisitions official. “It’s going to be a big difference in the future and I think it could impact the Guard in different areas,” said Army Col. Nicole ...

  • DHS Security Tech Innovation Program Means Big Money for SMBs

    February 1, 2019

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is operating a yearly program through which it accepts proposals from U.S. small businesses who want to provide their expertise to help the government’s security technology research and development efforts. If the “government” part didn’t already hint at it, businesses who get accepted in the program and get granted one ...

  • Lebanon’s BRIC applies tech solutions to clearing landmines

    January 27, 2019

    The Israeli No 4 landmine has a peculiar design – approach it the right way, and it can be easily neutralized and destroyed. Approach it the wrong way, and things could go terribly wrong, very quickly. A de-miner is on Lebanon’s infamous Blue Line, working carefully and purposefully, to detect and clear a line of landmines, ...

  • DHS SBIR Solicitation for FY19

    January 4, 2019

    The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program, comprised of the Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate’s SBIR Program and the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) Office SBIR Program, invites small business concerns to review this pre-solicitation notice, which is intended to lead to the FY19 DHS SBIR Phase I solicitation. Read ...

  • Drones Used to Find Toylike “Butterfly” Land Mines

    December 28, 2018

    A type of land mine called the “butterfly” has a particularly insidious reputation for two reasons: It is known for killing or crippling children who may pick up what looks a lot like a green plastic toy, and its mostly nonmetallic construction means it often evades traditional mine detectors. Butterfly mines’ light-touch detonators go off ...

  • HEMRL develops device to detect 25 types of explosives

    December 15, 2018

    A group of scientists from High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a device called ‘OPX Revilator’, which can detect more than 25 pure explosives as well as trace of explosives mixtures in mud, sand, sugar, salt and diesel oil. “An explosive detection kit, known as EDK, was ...

  • Duke University researchers work toward an artificial nose to replace K9 dogs

    December 3, 2018

    Walk into airport security lines in the United States, and you’ll see K9 dogs sniffing for anything from narcotics to explosives. But what if a robot could do the same thing? Duke researchers recently published a paper in which they used mouse genes to grow odor receptors that could respond to specific odors. If this could ...

  • 10 Problems DHS Wants Innovative Small Businesses to Solve in 2019

    December 3, 2018

    The department will be offering millions of dollars to small businesses able to offer solutions to these 10 tough technical problems. The Homeland Security Department released a list of 10 bleeding-edge research areas it plans to pursue in fiscal 2019 in partnership with innovative small businesses. The department’s Science and Technology Directorate and Countering Weapons of Mass ...

  • A ‘robo-nose’ that could replace sniffer dogs is being built by scientists to detect narcotics, explosives and missing people

    November 20, 2018

    Trusty sniffer dogs that are used to detect drugs, explosives and missing people could soon be replaced by a ‘robo-nose’. Trained dogs are taught to use their sensitive sense of smell to detect the presence of certain chemicals and scientists have successfully recreated a robotic alternative. Researchers used genes from the nose of mice to develop the ...

  • New NATO scientific projects to help with the fight against terrorism

    November 12, 2018

    Three technologies on detection and clearance of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), namely a semi-autonomous robot for detection of mines and IEDs, a lightweight and easy-to-use mine detector and a handheld detector for dirty bombs, were successfully tested in Florence, Italy on 17 and 18 October 2018. These technologies are developed in the framework of NATO’s ...

  • Military Looking to Modernize Bomb Disposal Technology

    November 9, 2018

    Despite great power competition shifting the U.S. military’s gaze from counterterrorism to peer adversaries such as Russia and China, there will still be a need to maintain and modernize its explosive ordnance disposal technology, officials have said. EOD operators conduct some of the military’s most dangerous jobs defuzing and neutralizing bombs. The importance of their work ...

  • Minister’s Award for Protection Against IEDs

    November 6, 2018

    Dr Andrew Piotrowski has been awarded the 2018 Minister’s Award for Achievement in Defence Science for developing life-saving equipment against improvised explosive devices (IED). Minister for Defence, the Hon Christopher Pyne congratulated Dr Piotrowski, saying his innovative work saved the lives of countless Australian and Coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. “For over 20 years, Dr Piotrowski ...

  • Uncovering secret structure to safer explosives

    October 18, 2018

    A team of scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has shown that the structure of microscopic pores in high explosive materials can significantly impact performance and safety. These findings —  published recently as the cover article in the journal Propellants, Explosives, Pyrotechnics —  open the door to the possibility of tuning high explosives by engineering their ...