mine detection

Oceanbotics' SRV-8 underwater ROV (remotely operated vehicle) is certainly no slouch, nor is its more capable sibling, the SRV-8X. The latest version of the vehicle, the SRV-8 MDV, takes things even further – it blows up sea mines.

It goes without saying that the neutralizing of underwater mines is a risky task – definitely one that you'd avoid sending a scuba diver to do, if at all possible. That's why Pittsburgh-based RE2 Robotics is designing a robotic system to do the job.

The UK's Royal Navy has taken delivery of its first robotic minesweeper system. The demonstrator system is not only intended to hunt and clear traditional mines without placing sailors in harm's way, but can also deal with the more sophisticated modern digital mines.

To help Sailors and Marines avoid mines when executing amphibious assaults, the US Navy is testing an aerial drone platform that can locate and identify land mines in real time.

General Dynamics' Knifefish robotic mine-hunter recently completed evaluation tests with the US Navy in a dummy minefield off the coast of Boston, Massachusetts, demonstrating its ability to detect and classify mines submerged at various depths.

The animal known as the archerfish has a unique claim to fame – it shoots down and then eats airborne insects by spitting a stream of water at them. Well, BAE Systems' Archerfish ROV is a little different. It locates and then blows up sea mines, by shooting them with an explosive charge.

If you hunt unexploded sea mines for a living, then you might not mind losing your job to a robot. That seems to be the reasoning of the British and French governments as they embark on a joint venture to develop a prototype autonomous system for detecting and neutralizing sea mines.

Researchers at MIT have developed new algorithms to vastly improve the navigation and feature-detecting capabilities of underwater, mine-sweeping robots.

Physicists have now built a low-cost land mine detection system using off-the-shelf components – including some sourced from online auction sites.

Naval mine strikes are cited as the root cause of almost 4/5ths of U.S. Navy ship casualties occurring since 1950, so any device that either detects mines or cloaks the ship to avoid detonation will aid in the reduction of these alarming statistics.