Background
Upon speaking to Stephen Laudato, a Detection Systems Team Leader in the Humanitarian Demining R&D Program of the C5ISR Center, Research & Technology Integration Directorate (RTI) of the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM), we learned that Humanitarian Demining Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) do not have a reliable way of determining their position inside of a potentially hazardous area, and do not have a way of communicating those positions with other NGOs. This leads to costly inefficiencies, including NGO teams clearing the same area multiple times, and serious consequences, such as leaving potentially hazardous areas uncleared. Upon further research, there are no commercially available systems which perform and integrate both of these functions. Recent world conflicts –such as those in Afghanistan, Gabon, Iraq, Myanmar, Sudan/South Sudan, and Ukraine –have left behind millions of pieces of unexploded ordnance (UXO) and landmines that continue to afflict communities without the infrastructure and training to remove them.
Problem Statement
There is a need for demining teams to accurately and precisely determine their position within a potentially hazardous area and communicate that position, in real time, to other demining teams working in the same region, thereby increasing the safety and efficiency of demining operations.
Project Scope
Our project is to design and construct a proof-of-concept prototype of a device which can perform these tasks for the Sensing and Detection Division at C5ISR. The communication procedure should be inherently robust and not dependent on any outside infrastructure except access to electricity and GPS satellites.
NGOs use 50 meter by 50 meter squares to parse minefields into clearable chunks. Our device needs to be able to provide real-time location data with a variability of at most 1 meter to ensure precise demarcation and tracking of cleared and uncleared areas. Additionally, it should allow for seamless real-time data transmission over distances of at least 1 kilometer between different teams to prevent duplication of effort and ensure comprehensive coverage of demining operations. Our device will have a user interface to display the data for ease of use, and a mechanism to export data to ArcGIS for further study and external communication.
We have titled this project internally as CLEARPath: Communication and Location Efficiency Advancement for Reclamation Pathways.
