Anti-mine drone with metal detector deployed.
I’ve been involved in flying Remote Controlled (RC) devices since I was 13 years old in 1971.
It’s been one of the most satisfying experiences of my life. It’s all about setting personal goals and building something to satisfy those goals.
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Massoud Hassani makes me seem trivial when you see his ambition; clearing landmines from old war zones all around the globe!
What Mr. Hassani has done is to adapt and combine relatively simple equipment that is readily available all over the internet. His drone does 3 things.
1) Maps an area.
2) Detects mines.
3) Blows up the mines.
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Step 1 is to map out the field to establish a co-ordinate system of the field. Much like a modern farmer does. Once the field is mapped, using GPS data, it becomes simple to determine what part of the field has been “scanned” and what hasn’t been done. I don’t exactly what Hassani is doing, but much like a farmer applying fertilizer or pest control using a GPS controlled tractor, it’s a simple leap to see how any such system can be programmed to cover the whole plot and not miss anything.
Step 2 is deploying the metal detector. It’s activated to locate the planted mines. Of the entire drone system, I imagine the metal detector to be the costliest component of the system. The “sweep area” has to be much larger than the cheap metal detectors we see treasure hunters roaming a beach with after a big storm or a busy tourist day.
Step 3 is to simply lay a smaller bomb on the found land mine. This must be simple because in Step 2, the device was located and using data points from Step 1, the drone knows exactly where to lay the “egg”. I suspect that after the egg is laid, the metal detector is once again deployed and the area scanned again to make sure the intended explosive is close enough to the mine.
Once everything either is confirmed, the controlling radio itself, or the drone can send the signal to explode the egg.
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One of the more clever parts of the concept is that much of the frame assembly of the drone is created using a 3D printer. In the case of any incidents, from handling, transporting, flying, or detonations, the craft can be quickly repaired. Or, in the case of severe damage, any usable parts can be stripped off the wreck and used on the next drone.
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Hassani has established a kickstarter drive to finance deployment of his system. He’s asking for only $70,000 (imagine of the Pentagon bought something like this; add at least two more zeroes!) The bare flying vehicle, without the metal detector or bomb deployment system probably costs somewhere around $1500 (which is triple for a similar hobby grade drone but lacks lifting capacity and flight duration). I have no idea what a high quality metal detector goes for; let’s say $10k! And the bomblet “eggs”… probably $15 each and the costliest part would be the radio-activate detonator. Stuffing a plastic egg with C4 can’t cost a couple bucks. At last check, his funding is over $100k!
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Usually, we see military hardware and technology applied to peacetime endeavors. In this case, it’s the application of commonly known and available stuff (except the C4) to useful humanitarian purposes.
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Here’s a video of the system.
(Note: I’ve seen drones such as this, less the deployable hardware, fly by themselves. Once the “home base” of the drone is established, an entire flight can be controlled by onboard electronics. We see Hassani manually flying the drone in the video, but it’s not necessary. Furthermore, hobby grade drones are far easier to “fly” than an RC airplane. Their onboard gyro systems and auto-pilots make flight simple; and why we see every idjut in the world flying them in the wrong places!)
I think this guy has a great idea!
“Good drone!”
