Mobile robotic system for detection and location of antipersonnel land mines: field tests

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the results obtained in the field tests of a new system for detection and location of antipersonnel land mines. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents briefly the overall system and then it focuses on the description and analysis of the results obtained in three basic experiments: accuracy for following trajectories, mine detection and capability for walking over landmines. Findings – The paper finds that the system has been assessed positively for this specific application because it satisfies the initial system requirements. Research limitations/implications – The research and experiments have been focused on irregular terrain with low vegetation and free from obstacles. Further research will be focused on the complete coverage of a terrain including large vegetation and obstacles. Practical implications – This paper presents practical results for a very well defined application: humanitarian de‐mining. However, many of the results related with robot location, following of trajectories and general control techniques are applicable to any mobile robot for outdoor applications in general. Originality/value – This paper is the first work (to the best author's knowledge) reporting experimental features of a walking system for humanitarian de‐mining. The paper does not only report on the mobile platform, but also on the scanning manipulator and sensor head features.