Last year I wrote about a fascinating German project whereby a robot had been developed to detect bombs. The team developed a remote controlled robot that’s capable of assessing the danger of a situation, whilst also producing 3D images of the contents and shape of the luggage (as evidence in case it is explosive).
The team, from the Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHR in Wachtberg, have worked with the North Rhine-Westphalia State Office of Criminal Investigation, the Leibnitz University in Hannover, ELP GmbH and Hentschel System GmbH in developing the device.
It consists of a multimodal sensor suite complete with wave scanner, high-res digital camera and a 3D monitoring system. It’s controlled remotely by bomb disposal engineers.
A safe distance
It’s part of a growing number of projects aiming to make bomb disposal and landmine detection safer for humans. For instance, a team from Jerusalem Hebrew University have developed a special bacteria designed to detect landmines.
The secret is in minuscule vapors given off by the landmines, which the bacteria is capable of detecting. If the vapor is detected, the bacteria responds by glowing. The bacteria is wrapped in polymer beads and scattered across a suspected minefield. The detection team then use a laser to spot the bacteria as it reacts to the vapor given off by the mines. The system has already been tested in the field, with positive initial results.
“Our field data show that engineered biosensors may be useful in a landmine detection system,” the team say. There is however a significant amount of work needed to ensure the technology is fit for market.
“For this to be possible, several challenges need to be overcome,” they say, “such as enhancing the sensitivity and stability of the sensor bacteria, improving scanning speeds to cover large areas, and making the scanning apparatus more compact so it can be used onboard a light unmanned aircraft or drone.”
With hundreds of thousands of people still injured and killed by landmines each year, it’s a technology that can’t come soon enough.
