Demining Requirements

Users of metal detectors, from security to geological exploration, have various different requirements. These users will give different answers when asked which area they would most like to see improved in their next detector.  Some users are most concerned with the ability to pick up very small objects, other with the ability to pick up objects at greater depth.

With detectors used for humanitarian demining, these factors are of concern, particularly the ability to detect low metal mines.  In most areas that mines are of concern, metal detectors have been used successfully over the last few decades.  Other than prodding with a stick, metal detectors have been the main method of mine detection.  The better detectors are currently finding these low metal mines.

The biggest problem for most people in humanitarian demining appears to be the problem of the high number of false indications.  While mine detectors continue to give over 1000 false indications of a mine for each actual mine then demining will remain expensive, difficult to implement and the majority of known or suspected mine fields will continue to simply being left there.

Throughout a lot of research on demining, the requirement for mine detectors to give better characterization of target was consistently THE MAJOR OBJECTIVE.  This single objective is being used to drive many of the decisions and directions of this project.  For example, the fact that it is easier to obtain characterization information, and there is more scope for improvement, from the Frequency Domain detector approach is one of the main reasons why the initial design is a VLF detector rather than the Pulse Induction Time Domain approach.

It should be noted that given the type of objective, no matter how much work is done in this area, there is no guarantee that the objective can ever be met such that it will allow a deminer to not inspect any of the false indications.

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