The Project
Cluster bombs are dropped by plane and made of a container, which opens in the course of its flight and thus releases hundreds of small devices called sub-munitions. Some fail to explode as they hit the ground and become anti-personnel mines. They then represent a scourge, and especially for badly hit by the Vietnam war Lao PDR, where estimates predict 75 million non-exploded submunitions remain. Without any technological groundbreaking, it is thought that 100 years will be necessary in order to cleanse the country of these bombs.
Unlike classic mines, submunitions are mainly made of metal and remain close to the surface of the minefield. These objects
slightly alter the terrestrial magnetic field.
We described the magnetic field emitted by the ferromagnetism of a submunition, and conceived an embedded system to detect this signature from a low altitude. These measures allow us to map the local magnetic field and hence detect mined areas.
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Project LAO therefore consists in elaborating a system to detect sub-munition bombing areas by recognizing the magnetic signature of typical airdrops.
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We can today detect Laos' most found sub-munitions (BLU–26) from a low altitude using a trolley to carry our device. Current magnetometers can detect such objects from an altitude of several meters. We consequently need your help to raise ourselves and embed our system onboard a flying drone, so that Project LAO truly soars into the skies.
Since they are dropped by hundreds and originate from the same container, submunitions are contained after landing in a characteristic surface: an ellipse, the dimensions of which depend on each sub-munition type.
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It is possible to imply these shape from the magnetic mapping, and to direct minesweeping towards these areas.
This simultaneously prevents from leaving mines behind, since they are all contained in such ellipses, and limits time-consuming and useless false positives.
75 000 000 mines in Laos: a century to remove
Earth's magnetic field: a solution?
