US Navy reveals mini drone that can scour a beach for mines before Marines land

The one-pound, remote controlled drone can detect mines and other hazards
It can detect buried or underwater mines during US Marines beach landings
The system was designed to help explosives disposal teams quickly find mines
It's based on a magnetometer which measures magnetism to detect mines and provides real-time search data to a handheld Android device

Published: 18:46 EST, 2 June 2017 | Updated: 18:46 EST, 2 June 2017

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US Navy researchers have developed a drone system that can detect mines and other hazards.

The portable, one-pound remote-controlled quadcopter drone can detect buried or underwater mines during amphibious beach landings conducted by US Marines.

It was designed to help explosives disposal teams quickly find mines and dangerous metal structures within coastal areas and shallow water zones.

The one-pound quadcopter was unveiled at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in San Diego County, California.

It has a magnetometer sensor system - which measures magnetism - to detect mines and provide real-time search data to a handheld Android device.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

The one-pound, remote-controlled quadcopter developed by the Office of Naval Research has a magnetometer sensor system to detect mines.

A magnetometer is a device that measures magnetic fields.

There are two basic types of magnetometers: Scalar magnetometers measure the strength of a magnetic field, and vector magnetometers measure the compass direction.

Magnetometer's are capable for detecting fluctuations in the Earth's magnetic field, but some types of magnetometers can be used in mine detection.

The new system provides real-time search data to a handheld Android device.

It shows a map in green, with potential hazards and their relative sizes in red.

Source: Sciencing.com

The system was designed by Dr Rosemarie Oelrich, a researcher at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) and Dr Cory Stephanson, president and CEO of Broadband Discovery Systems (BDS).

When the two researchers tested the drone system, their tablet screen showed search data from the drone they'd just flown.

The screen glowed with a green map, with red clusters of varying size and shape on it.

'See that large cluster?' said Dr Stephenson.

'That's the dummy we buried.

'The smaller blotches near it are construction rebar we found nearby.

'The drone detected and localized these items quickly and accurately, which would be extremely valuable in a real combat scenario.'

The system, officially called the Mine Warfare Rapid Assessment Capability (MIW RAC), is sponsored by the Office of Naval Research's (ONR) Tech Solutions Program.

'This technology will help Sailors and Marines who are approaching a beachfront to rapidly clear, or at least determine the location of, mines or other hazards that are in their way,' said ONR Command Master Chief Matt Matteson.

'It could potentially save a lot of lives.'

According to the researchers, the system could provide a new, real-time aerial component to existing underwater mine-detection capabilities.

'Everyone wants to know where they are going and what they are about to get into,' said Dr Oelrich.

'It helps to have a rapid capability to just fly something in the air and survey an area before you put troops on the ground or bring a vessel ashore.'

The remote-controlled drone system was designed to help explosives disposal teams quickly find mines and dangerous metal structures within coastal areas and shallow water zones

While the actual quadcopter and tablet used are commercially available, they key component of the system is its proprietary magnetometer sensor suite.

According to researchers, the sensor has an extensive detection range and uses complex algorithms to differentiate between various types of objects.

The project began in 2015, when the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) sent a request to ONR's TechSolutions program - a rapid response science and techology program of the Navy that developed prototypes to address problems raised by Sailors and Marines, usually within a 12-18 month periodm they claim.

The drone system has a magnetometer sensor system - which measures magnetism - to detect mines and provide real-time search data to a handheld Android device

The request was for a portable system that could detect potential hazards in surf zones, be simple for warfighters to use fit many different platforms.

'We took our inspiration from a stationary scanning system developed by BDS,' said Dr Oelrich.

'It was sensitive enough to not only detect weapons, but identify the hidden location of the object on a person and the angle in which it was oriented—a knife in a front pocket or gun turned sideways, for example.

'We flipped that concept on its head.

When the researchers tested the drone system, their Android tablet screen showed search data from the drone they'd just flown

'Instead of a stationary system detecting moving objects, we have a moving system detecting relatively stationary objects.'

Later this year, TechSolutions will deliver a prototype of the system to NECC’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group for further testing and evaluation, and Dr Oelrich and her team hope to see the system issued throughout the fleet next year.