DEMINE: Mobile Robot Based Detection and Localization of Anti-personnel Landmines

The DEMINE project researched the area of detection and automatic localization of antipersonnel landmines. A new sensor was proposed, based on an active infrared detection principle and sensor data fusion methods were developed. These methods fuse data from several mine detection sensors - namely metal detector (MD), ground penetrating radar (GPR), IR and gas sensors – in order to reduce the false alarm rate. The project also investigated novel mobile robot platforms and navigation algorithms for efficient search and localization of landmines in the field. Current passive IR detection methods need natural temperature variations in order to detect contrast between the soil over a buried landmine and the soil close to it. The developed sensor exposes the soil to microwave radiation before acquiring the surface temperature (that's why we call the method "active"). Plastic landmines do not absorb microwaves in the same manner as wet soil, so images gathered this way will have a much better contrast. Another important and original contribution of this project was in the area of mobile robot navigation based on the information from gas sensors (olfaction based navigation). Such systems can be used for verification and area reduction purposes or, if enough sensitive gas sensors become available, to track an odour and localize a specific landmine.