Holographic and impulse subsurface radar for landmine and IED detection

The main goal of this project is to demonstrate the advantages of sensor integration on a remotely controlled robotic platform for increasing operator safety and improving the classification of explosive targets. This is accomplished by combining the imaging provided by radars and an optoelectronic sensor, a time-of-flight (ToF) depth camera. An additional aim is to demonstrate the operability and practicality of the system in a field with landmine simulants having plastic cases. To reach these project goals, the partner institutions combined specialties to develop a remotely-operable, multi-sensor, robotic device for the detection of metal and plastic case land mines, unexploded ordnances (UXO), and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). The robotic detection device uses a novel subsurface radar with imaging and target classification to differentiate between threatening landmines and innocuous clutter. The expected outcome of this research is the creation of a multi-sensor system on a semi-autonomous vehicle for detection and discrimination of explosive devices. Through the following steps, the holographic and impulse subsurface radar for landmine detection was developed: • Identification of common explosive devices and their characteristics; • Review of the literature and map review of local soils and their properties in the Donbass region of Ukraine; • Measurement of soil electromagnetic properties within Donbass test sites; • Field measurement of relief for analysis of vehicle accessibility; • Implementation of a hologram reconstruction algorithm for landmine recognition and classification based on microwave holographic radar data; • Development of a new impulse Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) for real time detection of buried objects; • Experimental results of detection and imaging of buried plastic landmines (PMN and PMN1) in natural soil.