Humanitarian Demining: Reality and the Challenge of Technology – The State of the Arts

In the context of humanitarian demining it is essential to have a reliable and accurate sensor or an integration of heterogeneous/homogeneous sensors with efficient and reliable data fusion and processing techniques. In addition, it is necessary to overcome the constrain on the resources to speed up the demining process in terms of time, cost, and safety enhancement of personnel and operation. A portable handheld mine detection approach to sensor movement is slow and hazardous for individual deminers. Armored vehicles may not thoroughly protect the occupants and may be of only limited usefulness in off-road operations. Robotized solutions with effective sensing capabilities properly sized with suitable modularized mechanized structure and well adapted to local conditions of minefields can greatly improve the safety of personnel as well as work efficiency and flexibility. Such intelligent and flexible machines can speed the clearance and perform verifying processes when used in combination with handheld mine detection tools. Furthermore, the use of many robots working and coordinating their movement will improve the productivity of the overall mine detection process through the use of team cooperation and coordination. This paper evaluates the available mine clearance technologies and disscusses their development efforts and limitations to automate tasks related to demining process. In addition, it introduces technical features and design capabilities of a mobile platform needed to accelerate the demining process and achieve safety with cost effective measures.