Applying Deep Learning to Automate UAV-Based Detection of Scatterable Landmines

Recent advances in unmanned-aerial-vehicle- (UAV-) based remote sensing utilizing lightweight multispectral and thermal infrared sensors allow for rapid wide-area landmine contamination detection and mapping surveys. We present results of a study focused on developing and testing an automated technique of remote landmine detection and identification of scatterable antipersonnel landmines in wide-area surveys. Our methodology is calibrated for the detection of scatterable plastic landmines which utilize a liquid explosive encapsulated in a polyethylene or plastic body in their design. We base our findings on analysis of multispectral and thermal datasets collected by an automated UAV-survey system featuring scattered PFM-1-type landmines as test objects and present results of an effort to automate landmine detection, relying on supervised learning algorithms using a Faster Regional-Convolutional Neural Network (Faster R-CNN). The RGB visible light Faster R-CNN demo yielded a 99.3% testing accuracy for a partially withheld testing set and 71.5% testing accuracy for a completely withheld testing set. Across multiple test environments, using centimeter scale accurate georeferenced datasets paired with Faster R-CNN, allowed for accurate automated detection of test PFM-1 landmines. This method can be calibrated to other types of scatterable antipersonnel mines in future trials to aid humanitarian demining initiatives. With millions of remnant PFM-1 and similar scatterable plastic mines across post-conflict regions and considerable stockpiles of these landmines posing long-term humanitarian and economic threats to impacted communities, our methodology could considerably aid in efforts to demine impacted regions.

The AIDSS Module for Data Acquisition in Crisis Situations and Environmental Protection

The Toolbox implementation for removal of antipersonnel mines, submunitions and unexploded ordnance (TIRAMISU) Advanced Intelligence Decision Support System is an operational system proposed to Mine Action Centres worldwide for conducting non-technical surveys in humanitarian demining. The system consists of three modules, one of which is the module for data acquisition introduced and described in this study. The module has been designed, produced, improved, used and operationally tested and validated on several platforms (helicopters, remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) and a blimp), with various sensors and acquisition units (Global Positioning System (GPS) and inertial measurement unit) in a variety of combinations for additional data acquisition from deep inside a suspected hazardous area. For the purposes of aerial data acquisition over a suspected hazardous area, the use of multiple sensors such as visible digital cameras and multi-spectral visible, near infrared (VNIR), hyperspectral VNIR and thermal infrared sensors are of benefit, because they display the scene in different ways. Off-the-shelf equipment and software were mostly used, but some specific equipment, such as sensor pods, was developed and also some software solutions for data acquisition and pre-processing (transforming hyperspectral line scanner data into hyperspectral images, and producing hyperspectral cubes). The technical stability and robustness of the module were confirmed by operationally testing and evaluating the systems on the aforementioned platforms and missions in several actual suspected hazardous areas in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, between 2001 and 2015.

Antipersonnel landmines in the Colombian internal conflict: implications for technology development

The effort of universities, companies, and the state in Colombia to face home-made AP landmines has generated useful solutions and studies for many projects developed in the last decade, including demining processes in Colombia. Antipersonnel mines have changed in the last 15 years, due to the intermittent nature of our internal conflict. For example, as Descontamina Colombia mentions on its website, non-state armed groups cut the detonator containing the primary explosive to decrease the metal in the mine. This paper shows the aspects of the conflict that have affected humanitarian demining in Colombia, which help in the design and construction of technological devices. This article does not attempt to describe each of the typical technologies in humanitarian demining processes, but rather to show the characteristics considered in the design of two detection devices aimed at detecting home-made AP landmines.

Analysis of the spatio-temporal gait parameters of transtibial amputees

In this study we analyzed the spatio-temporal parameters (step length, step time, stride length, stride time, speed and rate) of three unilateral transtibial amputees in order to find the best gait pattern and this verify the adaptation of the prosthesis, using inertial sensors of the TECHNAID ® brand in order to make the diagnosis in an objective way; the data were processed using the MARCHA ET software of the DIGITI research group of the Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas. In this study, were analyzed three subjects from the Hospital Militar Central (HMC) the cause of amputation is due to trauma caused by antipersonnel mines. It was found that subjects with unilateral transtibial amputation lean on more time and carry more weight on their healthy lower limb, which leads to an increase in mechanical demand on the knee joint of the amputated leg.

International Conventions and Nonstate Actors

Whether international humanitarian norms are respected during and after civil conflict depends on the behavior of both governments and nonstate actors (NSAs). However, international conventions on the protection of civilians generally do not address NSAs, as such conventions are open only to the representatives of states. In a pioneering initiative, the nongovernmental organization Geneva Call has started to address this problem by soliciting NSAs to sign “deeds of commitment” to ban particular activities violating humanitarian norms. Focusing on the case of antipersonnel mines, we examine why NSAs would choose to sign conventions that limit their autonomy, and whether such conventions can change the behavior of governments and nonstate armed groups. We propose a game-theoretic model of how the interaction between governments and NSAs shape their incentives to commit to and comply with international humanitarian norms. Our empirical evidence highlights the importance of these interdependencies between governments and NSAs in the realm of humanitarian engagements.

A Biologically Based Chemo-Sensing UAV for Humanitarian Demining

Antipersonnel mines, weapons of cheap manufacture but lethal effect, have a high impact on the population even decades after the conflicts have finished. Here we investigate the use of a chemo-sensing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (cUAV) for demining tasks. We developed a blimp based UAV that is equipped with a broadly tuned metal-thin oxide chemo-sensor. A number of chemical mapping strategies were investigated including two biologically based localization strategies derived from the moth chemical search that can optimize the efficiency of the detection and localization of explosives and therefore be used in the demining process. Additionally, we developed a control layer that allows for both fully autonomous and manual controlled flight, as well as for the scheduling of a fleet of cUAVs. Our results confirm the feasibility of this technology for demining in real-world scenarios and give further support to a biologically based approach where the understanding of biological systems is used to solve difficult engineering problems.