Pyrotechnic robots are service robots which are used to reduce the intervention time of pyrotechnic troops and the danger for the operators. Pyrotechnic robots are used to inspect hazardous areas or/and to remove and to destroy explosive or suspect devices/objects. These robots can be used to make some corridors through mined battle fields, to manipulate and neutralize the intact ammunition, to...

Many of the improvised explosive devices received at the Forensic Explosives Laboratory (FEL) contain pyrotechnic or home-made explosive mixtures as the explosive charge. Pyrotechnic residues contain a complex mixture of combustion products and unconsumed material. It has been reported that pyrotechnic residues comprise characteristic particles, similar to the formation of gunshot residue parti...

Today the method commonly used for detecting gunshot residue is through the combined use of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). In recent years, this same methodology began to find use in detecting and characterizing pyrotechnic reaction residue (PRR) particles whether produced by explosion or burning. This is accomplished by collecting particulate sampl...

A new approach to formulating pyrotechnic materials is presented whereby constituent ingredients are bound together in a solid-state lattice. This reduces the batch inconsistencies arising from the traditional approach of combining powders by ensuring the key ingredients are 'mixed' in appropriate quantities and are in intimate contact. Further benefits of these types of material are increased ...

Many pyrotechnic devices contain barium nitrate which is used as an oxidizer and colouring agent primarily for green-coloured fireworks. Similarly, strontium nitrate is used for red-coloured pyrotechnic effects. Due to their chemical similarities to radium, barium and strontium ores can accumulate radium, causing a remarkable activity in these minerals. Radium in such contaminated raw materials...

Pyrotechnic delays are used in commercial and military items requiring a time delay between two energetic events. For example, US Army hand-held signals (HHS) use a delay element to properly sequence the expulsion of illuminating rounds at the rockets’ apex. Many military delay formulations contain barium, lead, chromates, and perchlorates. The US Army is reformulating pyrotechnic items to remo...

One of the central points of the ekpyrotic cosmological scenario based on Hor̆ava-Witten theory is that we live on a negative tension brane. However, the tension of the visible brane in HW theory, as well as in relevant cases of non-standard embedding, is positive. To make this scenario realistic one must solve the problem of the negative cosmological constant on the visible brane and fine-tune ...

Although there has been significant interest in the develop ment of environmentally friendly pyrotechnics, the develop ment of cost effective barium free green light emitting pyro technic formulations has remained elusive. Many barium compounds are human health hazards, and recent work by Steinhauser has shown that barium ores as raw materials may contain radioactive radium. Recent papers by Kl...