Real-live problems
Every day, roadside bombs happen everywhere around the world: Thailand, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, etc. Last Memorial Day weekend (June 30, 2011), America lost nine heroes to an improvised explosive (IED) devices in Afghanistan. IEDs are homemade bombs made from anything that contains explosives and are designed to explode when detonated. June 27, 2011 – Two separate roadside bomb blasts killed seven Afghan civilians in eastern Afghanistan. June 24, 2011 - PATTANI, Thailand — Three hidden roadside bombs killed two people and wounded 13 others in southern Thailand, and police believe Islamist militants were responsible. June 21, 2011 – Somalia’s capital, four civilians died and seven others were wounded after their car was hit by a roadside bomb.

We could fill volumes with all the roadside bomb attacks that have occurred within the last decade. That's because IEDs can be an effective strategy when facing a superior or more technological military force. Guerilla fighters, rebels and terrorists employ the weapons mainly to harass the military and to terrorize civilians and governments. Their use shows no signs of abating. Thousands have lost their loved ones due to the roadside bomb.

Design to save innocent lives and loved ones
The iPhone (mobile)–controlled flying saucer (iCFS), autopilot flies alongside the convoy with ground penetrating radar (GPR), low-light infrared camera and thermal infrared (thermal-IR) camera that can detect and locate buried roadside bombs, detect terrorist activities behind trees and brushes and detect & track pedestrian and car along roadside. If activities are found, the iCFS automatically sends message with location, distance and picture alert operator/ driver to take actions. iCFS can also sends jamming cell-phone signal to prevent bomb from detonation when a convoy is passing by the suspected area.

Innovation/Challenge:
1. To lift the iCFS and carry payload (GPR, low-light & thermal-IR cameras), design using the Coanda Effect. The Coanda Effect was discovered in 1930 by the Romanian aerodynamicist Henri-Marie Coanda (1885-1972). Unlike the commercial small helicopter though, this is aerodynamically neutral, iCFS can bump into walls, utility poles, trees, etc. without smashing the rotor.
2. iCFS flies silently with iPhone/iPad control, Radio Remote Control, or automatic fly-thru pre-assigned GIS map. With wide angle camera (Front), high speed camera (Vertical) and MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems), accelerometer, gyro sensors and ultrasound-based altimeter combine with a powerful on board computer to make piloting this iCFS easy.
3. With the analytic program to fuse images from a low-light camera, thermal infrared camera to detect and track moving object (car, pedestrian) or suspects behind brushes and integrate to ground penetrating radar imaging which location and distance of buried explosive devices on the Google (GIS) map.
4. Using available COTS technology sensors for simple piloting and control the iCFS including: lithium polymer battery, electric brushless motors, wide-angle front camera, high speed vertical camera, ultrasound-based altimeter, GPS, 3-axis accelerometer, 2-axis gyroscope, 1-axis yaw precision gyroscope, embedded computer and Wi-Fi b/g.
5. Other applications with different sensors or cameras, i.e., aerial photography, law enforcement, emergency response, and more.