US landmine detector made from off-the-shelf components

In a project sponsored by the US Army Research Laboratory’s Army Research Office, Prof John Scales, his collaborator Martin Smith and students at the Colorado School of Mines have built a new system using microwave-based sensors to detect vibrations in the ground (or other structures) remotely.

Made from off-the-shelf components the system costs about $10,000. This compares to laser-based Doppler remote detection systems that sells for upwards of $1m. Microwaves have many other advantages including that they can see through foliage.

‘Land mines are an enormous problem around the world for both military personnel and civilians,’ said Scales. ‘We’ve developed an ultrasound technique to first shake the ground and then a microwave component to detect ground motion that indicates location of the land mine. We hope that the two components together enable us to detect the land mines in a safe fashion, from a distance.’

Many other applications are said to exist for remote vibration sensing, including monitoring the structural integrity of buildings, bridges, and dams.