Landmine Detection

University of Mississippi researchers have devised a faster method for detecting landmines – millions of which pose a lethal threat to people in war-ravaged countries. This breakthrough could help save thousands of lives a year.

The excavation and disposal of landmines is a time- and labor-intensive business, so it can be quite a waste of resources if the detected object is not actually a mine. A new system could help, by reducing the number of mine-hunting errors.

​While landmines in general are pretty awful, the PFM-1 "butterfly" mine is particularly nasty. Because of its mainly plastic construction, the butterfly-shaped device is notoriously difficult to find using metal detectors. Now, however, it turns out that drones can be used to locate the things.

According the Landmine Monitor 2016, global casualties from landmines reached a 10-year high in 2015 and funding for clearance efforts reached a 10-year low. A new system that highlights the location of landmines and unexploded ordnance using glowing bacteria could help reverse this trend.

Lately, we're beginning to see how flying robots can play a role in dangerous scenarios, the latest example being a laser-equipped drone that can detect explosives and chemical compounds from above.​

Locating buried landmines is not only a meticulous and time-intensive task, but an incredibly dangerous one as well. Working to help keep humans out of harm's way, British scientists have started testing drones with advanced imaging technology to more effectively map affected areas. ​​

SaveOneLife is a wearable mine detector that fits in a shoe and warns the wearer if and where a potentially deadly landmine might lurk nearby.

A team from the Institute of Systems and Robotics at Portugal's University of Coimbra is developing a minesweeping robot to assist in the monumental task of clearing the millions of active land mines around the globe.

Metal Storm has been granted a patent with important implications for the future of minefields. The system offers many advantages, including the ability to be switched off leaving no explosive ordnance remaining in the area that had been protected.

Raytheon has been awarded a USD$19 million contract to develop and demonstrate a technology that detects tunnels and buried landmines.