Canadian teleoperated landmine detection systems. Part I: The improved landmine detection project

The system developed under the Improved Landmine Detector Project is a teleoperated, multi-sensor, vehicle-mounted mine detector for low metal content and non-metallic mines to meet the Canadian requirements for rear area mine clearance in combat situations and peace-keeping on roads and tracks. The system consists of a purpose-built teleoperated vehicle carrying a forward looking infrared imager, a 3 m wide, down-looking highly sensitive electro-magnetic induction detector and a 3 m wide down-looking ground probing radar, which all scan the ground in front of the vehicle. Scanning sensor information is combined using a suite of navigation sensors and custom designed navigation, spatial correspondence and data fusion algorithms. Suspicious targets are then confirmed by a thermal neutron analysis detector. Key to the success of the system is the combination of sensor information, which requires coordinated communication between the sensors and navigation system and well designed sensor co-registration, spatial correspondence and data fusion methodologies. The advanced development model was completed in October 1997. Results are presented from Canadian and independent US trials in summer 1998. Four production units, based on the prototype technology, were delivered to the Canadian Forces in 2002, making the system the first militarily fielded, teleoperated, multi-sensor vehicle-mounted mine detector.

[1]  Yogadhish Das,et al.  Real-time target detection technique for metal detector arrays: an image processing approach , 1999, Defense, Security, and Sensing.

[2]  John E. McFee,et al.  DT neutron generator as a source for a thermal neutron activation system for confirmatory land mine detection , 2001, SPIE Optics + Photonics.

[3]  James D. Silk,et al.  Vehicular Mounted Mine Detector (VMMD) Test of Neutron Activation Technology , 1999 .

[4]  Kenzo Nonami,et al.  Development of mine detection robot COMET-II and COMET-III , 2002, Proceedings of the 41st SICE Annual Conference. SICE 2002..

[5]  John E. McFee,et al.  Remote performance prediction for infrared imaging of buried mines , 1997, Defense, Security, and Sensing.

[6]  John E. McFee,et al.  Second-Generation Thermal Neutron Activation Sensor for Confirmatory Land-Mine Detection , 2000 .

[7]  Eric Colon,et al.  Development of a high-mobility wheeled robot for humanitarian mine clearance , 1998, Defense, Security, and Sensing.

[8]  David A. Lang.  Marconi Integrated Systems vehicle-mounted mine detection systems , 1999, Defense, Security, and Sensing.

[9]  Denis Michael Reidy,et al.  Operational standoff mine detection: its technology and application , 1997, Defense, Security, and Sensing.

[10]  Erik M. Rosen,et al.  Report on the Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) of the Vehicular- Mounted Mine Detection (VMMD) Systems at Aberdeen, Maryland, and Socorro, New Mexico. , 1998 .

[11]  Lino Marques,et al.  Mobile pneumatic robot for demining , 2002, Proceedings 2002 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.02CH37292).

[12]  Peter Howard,et al.  Performance results of the EG&G vehicle-mounted mine detector , 1999, Defense, Security, and Sensing.

[13]  Ray Kacelenga,et al.  Voting fusion adaptation for landmine detection , 2002, Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Information Fusion. FUSION 2002. (IEEE Cat.No.02EX5997).

[14]  Al Kramer,et al.  Project Jingoss: A Tele-Operated Metallic Mine Detector , 1993 .

[15]  T. Cousins,et al.  The development of a thermal neutron activation (TNA) system as a confirmatory non-metallic land mine detector , 1998 .

[16]  Thomas J. Gorman.  Analysis of sensor integration of the Integrated Ground Mobile Mine Detection Testbed (IGMMDT) , 1997, Defense, Security, and Sensing.