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This article describes the development and the experiments performed with Gryphon, a new platform for tele-operated landmine detection. With Gryphon, the authors aim at reducing the gap between research and application by introducing partial autonomy in mine-detection operations with a robust platform. Tests have been performed in Croatia and Cambodia.

The procedure for humanitarian land mine removal varies greatly. However, one central element is detecting and marking suspected mine locations using sensors such as trained dogs and metal detectors. This step is expensive, tedious, and dangerous. In order to improve the land mine detection process, a reliable, low-cost robotic manipulation system has been constructed. The system consists of long-reach manipulator mounted on a commercially available All-Terrain Vehicle. The system is capable of autonomously scanning for mines with different types of sensors. An electromagnetic induction metal detector is used in conjunction with ground-penetrating radar to detect metal and larger heterogeneities in the ground, i.e. mine detonators and mine casings, respectively. This sensor combination greatly reduces the number of false alarms over the traditional single-sensor approach. Given the long reach of the arm, the endpoint is susceptible to unwanted oscillations that corrupt the scanning information. This paper describes a control system that utilizes input shaping to improve endpoint tracking. The result is a system that generates high-quality sensor information for precise mine identification.

Robot operation and interaction in unstructured environment is difficult. The problem becomes even more difficult if the environment is hazardous, presents a potentially wide temperature range, and is subject to rain, dust and other natural factors. Such environments are typical for minefields. Landmines still continue to kill, injure and penalize on a daily basis mainly a civilian population. The problem is real and current demining technologies are slow and dangerous, and have virtually not evolved in the last 50 years except for heavy soil digging machines that are limited to well-conditioned terrain. Replacing human deminers or trained dogs in the mine searching task is challenging, and promises better detection capabilities by allowing sensor imaging, increased safety for demining personel and faster progress in the demining process. This paper presents a semi autonomous mine searching robot that was developed with two main goals in mind: building a practical device that can operate in real-world conditions, and testing it in collaboration with demining organizations and real deminers. The robot’s composing elements have been thoroughly tested and the robot itself underwent extensive field tests in Japan, Croatia and Cambodia.

Development of Deminer-Assisting Robotic Tools at Tokyo Institute of Technology