Applying pressure for clearing land mines

[Baluncore]

For example, perhaps a vehicle could catapult an expendable bin with a sandbag ahead of the vehicle and pull the bin back toward the vehicle with an expendable rope.

It might work well in a flat sandy desert, a farm field or on the school football field, but it will not be much use amongst the fenced-off thickets or overgrown forests that naturally develop following a mine sowing operation. Yet it seems so easy to sweep the entire problem away over a few beers, by just getting a bigger truck, or throwing a bigger bomb at it. That way lies madness.

Goat tracks in the mountains are cleared initially by stray goats. Sheep and goats walk a very narrow line, which is why mines are planted to the side of the track where only passing traffic or grazing animals will be the victim. That cuts small vehicle access by effectively narrowing the track.

Mathematically ideal Cartesian solutions are not usually applicable to a real world, as there is an inverse law to mine fields. If an area could be swept easily, the mines will be planted sparsely. If heavy vehicles can access the area there will be a few anti-vehicle mines thrown in where they might pull off the road, and the mines will be planted in the roots of trees. The easy mine fields are swept during hostilities. Any clearance using heavy vehicles will be done within a year of the end of hostilities. The most difficult to sweep areas will be the least grazed and the most overgrown. Five years later you will be dealing with the most difficult overgrown fields, in more remote areas, without heavy vehicle access.

The solution to the problem of clearing the remaining mine fields tends towards the safe detection of each mine, followed by the safe destruction or removal of that mine.

 

[LURCH]

As I understand the OP, detection is already handled; we are only discussing disposal. This of course is utterly dependent on the ability of GPR to locate all of the mines in a specific search area without missing any ( ferchotous, do you have any data on how reliable GPR is at this task?).
Of course, what’s needed is a safe and reliable method of disposal that is as cheap as possible, which brings me back to using the drone to drop a bag of water balloons or dump a bucket of rocks on the mine. The results will be immediately obvious; either the mine will detonate or it won’t. If it doesn’t, the process can be repeated at very little cost and virtually no risk to people or equipment (or goats).
If the more precise method of using a second ROV is preferred, then allowing the vehicle to plant a Dragon is probably the best method. It’s a pyrotechnic torch made by Disarmco. The vehicle could plant it and then move away to a safe distance. Dragon can be ignited remotely.

 

[Rive]

safe destruction or removal of that mine.

I think that one there is an 'and', not 'or'. Even if the detection is false, even if the detonation was not successful, even if it was successful, that thing (the remains of) has to be digged out and collected.
Water balloons and flying drones won't do that.

 

[256bits]

I think that one there is an 'and', not 'or'. Even if the detection is false, even if the detonation was not successful, even if it was successful, that thing (the remains of) it has to be digged out and collected.
Water balloons and flying drones won't do that.

That was going to be my comment.
Object remotely located under the ground may or may not be a mine. If a mine it could be a decoy, a dud, or live.
Adding layers of surface material impedes and makes more unsafe the verification of the object if a detonation does not occur.

 

[Baluncore]

I think that one there is an 'and', not 'or'. Even if the detection is false, even if the detonation was not successful, even if it was successful, that thing (the remains of) has to be digged out and collected.
Water balloons and flying drones won't do that.

According to the aforementioned http://www.un.org/Depts/mine/Standard/chap_5.htm
Minefield Clearance Operations. Sect 5.9 An area is cleared when all mines and munitions have been removed and/or destroyed. All debris, from mines and munitions, such as fuzing systems, percussion caps and other items that constitute an explosive hazard, is to be removed”.

My bold. So fragments may remain if they are not an explosive hazard.
By all means bicker over the punctuation, but realize that detonation in place is sufficient.
Water balloons and flying drones will do that.

 

[Rive]

detonation in place is sufficient.

Then, will those water ballons suffice if there is no detonation?

 

[Baluncore]

Then, will those water ballons suffice if there is no detonation?

That depends on what it really is. If there is no detonation you will have to examine or lift the target to identify why it has the signature of a mine, but is abnormal in it's response. Without careful examination of inactive targets you cannot learn, nor will you find all the duds.

 

[Rive]

Without careful examination

Then, the next question: if there is detonation, then that water balloon can provide proof that the whole charge is gone?

Ps.: actually, I'm more and more sure that the most useful function of any mine-clearing assistant system would not be about the flashy ability of forcefully triggering them, but about the far more difficult task of - digging holes...

 

[Stephen Tashi]

Ps.: actually, I'm more and more sure that the most useful function of any mine-clearing assistant system would not be about the flashy ability of forcefully triggering them, but about the far more difficult task of - digging holes...

The original post is about an industrial design project to use an ROV to detonate a mine in a certain way - on the assumption the mine can be so detonated. The thread digresses into the general question of how to clear minefields. The question of how to clear minefields , in general, is interesting, but if the conclusion is "You can't clear mines with an ROV", it just says the design project is a purely academic exercise. Perhaps the industrial design project is an academic exercise! Most problems posted on physicsforums are.

 

[NTL2009]

The original post is about ...

Well, the OP was from April 2016, and:

ferchotous was last seen:
May 3, 2016

So I'm not sure it matters what the OP was about :)

 

[Baluncore]

Then, will those water ballons suffice if there is no detonation?

No. The water balloon is destroyed by being dropped, or any detonation of the mine. If the mine is identified and located by it's trigger mechanism, or the mass of the charge, then type of mine will be known and the size of the bang will tell you if it was as expected, or if further investigation is necessary. It is necessary to destroy-in-place, or dig out, only one device at the time in order to confirm expectations of identified targets.

A toolbox contains more than one tool. The idea that one solution must be applicable in all cases is clearly irrational. Clearance officers are selected to be more intelligent than grunt, so are able to deal with the complexity of decision making based on observation and experience. They are able to follow flow charts, to identify unusual situations, and to plan their action in a rational way. Stopping to think about an unusual situation is essential, as a score of 100% is required in every practical exam undertaken.

Ps.: actually, I'm more and more sure that the most useful function of any mine-clearing assistant system would not be about the flashy ability of forcefully triggering them, but about the far more difficult task of - digging holes...

Why dig a hole when a charge has been planted and is ready to be fired. It is often safer to detonate than to dismantle.

 

[Arthurus]

Could Ground penetrating radar (GPR), also used in archaeology, be used to verify clearance and to locate buried mines? The device is about the size of a lawnmower. judging from videos I have observed, the device should be fitted with an extra long handle and a blast shield in case it activates a mine. It might also be retrofitted with larger than standard wheels to reduce accidental triggering.

 

[Nik_2213]

As I understand it --Been a while since my brother did EOD course-- grunt-maimers are often laid atop tank-busters, and some of the latter may include 'sea-mine stuff' such as 'nudge counters' specifically to target vehicles following eg mine-clearance rollers...

Short of deep-ploughing / disk-harrowing battlefield to ~60 cms, with proviso that some whatsits may now be deeper than lain due burial by cratering splatter, 'clearance' is often a matter of 'probability'...

IIRC, French WW1 battle-fields still yield a scary Spring harvest of nasties due 'frost heave'...