On November 15, Boston Logan International Airport’s Runway 9/27 became the first airport in the U.S. to install an Xsight FODetect, a system that automates the job of identifying foreign objects that could damage an aircraft during takeoff or landing.

Using a small swiveling radar transmitter and sensor unit installed near the runway’s edge, the FODetect beam sweeps the runway as often as every 30 seconds and, like traditional radar, highlights–both visually and aurally–objects as tiny as a rivet that may have fallen unnoticed from vehicles. The operator watching the FODetect screen will also see a high-resolution image of the object that caused the alarm.

During nighttime hours, the unit uses a laser pointer to indicate objects on the runway to airport personnel.

The Xsight FOD system was initially tested at Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion International Airport earlier this year. The Israeli company calls it “an effective supplement to the manual FOD inspections airport personnel are required to perform.”