Vibration-based sensing system developed for land mine identification
NewsAugust 19, 2020
WASHINGTON. The U.S. Army has developed a new system for land mine identification that it says will reduce false alarm rates. Vadum, Inc., North Carolina State University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the Army Research Office all collaborated to develop the Vibration-ENhanced Underground Sensing system (Venus), the Army said
Instead of detecting the electromagnetic signature of the mine, which can be confused with other buried metal objects or with wet or magnetic patches of soil, the Venus system uses a pulsed magnetic field to stimulate the metal parts inside a landmine to vibrate.
According to the Army, other buried objects don't respond to the magnetic pulse of the Venus system — and those that do have "very different vibrational characteristics." The Army has awarded the research team an additional two-year Phase II STTR contract to mature the technology and make it ready for outdoor testing at the Army's range.
Earlier this year, the Pentagon announced it would roll back restrictions on land mine use, drawing criticism from Congressional Democrats as well as human rights organizations that have advocated for a total ban of antipersonnel land mines, which continue to threaten human lives long after wars end.
