The Polish Charitable Foundation «Postup» and Lviv Polytechnic National University will automate demining in Ukraine. Special drones and a ground platform are already in development.
Foundation «Postup» is working on the technology of non-contact scanning of the magnetic field using drones. One such drone is capable of scanning 10–15 hectares per day, so in 5 years, with the help of 200–300 pieces of equipment, it would be possible to scan all open areas contaminated by unexploded ordnance, without involving 100,000 personnel.
Lviv Polytechnic National University is working on the creation of an armored ground platform that could perform tasks in an aggressive environment with a high degree of uncertainty of external influences.
It is quite light – 90–150 kg, driven by electric motors and has good off-road capabilities. This can make the platform suitable for various operations performed during humanitarian demining, such as the deactivation of anti-personnel landmines, the investigation, retrieval, deactivation and/or transportation of detected landmines, as well as the performance of some mechanical demining operations.
To accelerate further research and development, Postup and Lviv Polytechnic will jointly seek institutional funding. Involvement of foreign institutions will also be a priority. The Foundation is negotiating with several Polish universities that would be interested in contributing to research and helping Ukraine.
«Given the fact that up to 1,000 civilians and military have been injured and/or killed by landmines since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, there is an urgent need for technology that would further insulate people from the need to work under mine threat conditions», concluded the Foundation.