scientists in The U.S. has developed technology that can detect landmines from afar and with greater accuracy, which could lower the risk of demining in current and former war zones. Known as the Laser Multibeam Differential Interferometry Sensor, or Lambdis, the technology works by shining lasers on the ground to reveal a suspect.
There is more here 110 million landmines buried around the world, and in 2023, mines killed or injured 5,700 people84 percent of the people who died were civilians, half of them were children. The United Nations said that in more than 70 countries landmines endanger people’s lives.
A mine can be created for as little as $3, but mining one can cost up to $1,000. Clearing landmines often relies on finding them with hand-held metal detectors, which are dangerous, time-consuming, and not as effective as hunting for plastic mines.
In response, US researchers developed a method to detect landmines in a mysterious way, which can detect metal and plastic. Lambdis works by sending vibrations down the floor while simultaneously targeting the area with a laser beam. Materials on the ground vibrate differently, just like the ground itself, and these differences are picked up by the laser as it is reflected back to its emitter. The Lambdis system then creates an image that sees these vibrations and their location in different colors—making a map of what’s buried in the ground.
The technology was developed by a team led by Vyacheslav Aranchuk, a laser sensing expert at the University of Mississippi. Most importantly, it can detect mines from a distance, and can be mounted on a mobile vehicle to help survey large areas.
“The number of landmines will increase if the conflict continues. This technology will be useful not only for military use in ongoing conflicts, but also for humanitarian purposes after the conflict ends,” says Aranchuk.
Researchers continue to develop a plan. The old version of Lambdis emitted 30 laser beams in a row, but the latest version emits beams in a 34 x 23 matrix, making it possible to see vibrations in a large area.
Metal detectors used in demining are sensitive to any metal object, so it is not uncommon for them to falsely detect objects other than landmines. And another demining method, underground radar, which emits high-speed electromagnetic waves underground, has the problem of being easily affected by ground conditions. Lambdis, by comparison, produces fewer false positives.
According to the research team, this technology can be used not only to detect landmines, but also to analyze them construction infrastructure such as bridges due to integrity or damage. In the future it could be used for the analysis of automotive and aerospace products, or even in medical imaging. Next, the team plans to evaluate how Lambdis performs in different soils and when hunting for other types of fossils.
This article appeared first WIRED Japan and translated from Japanese.
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