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How ADL's Rugged Computers Help Sweeping Mines

By Sylvia He

Landmines Are a Critical Problem

Landmine seems like a vague and faraway concept to most people, but it is one of the
most common and most unpredictable weapons in a war zone.

Landmines are used to disable personnel and tanks, causing many casualties along the
way. More than a million people have been killed or injured by mines since 1975, and
one in three U.S. casualties in the Vietnam War were caused by landmines [1].
Landmines are still deployed to kill thousands or destroy critical infrastructure in war
zones around the world. After a war, the forgotten mines in the field will continue to
harm civilians and hinder economic development.

Landmines are usually planted under the ground level so that they explode when a
person or a tank steps on them and changes the pressure on them. Some, like the
bounding mines, can even lift from underground to explode in midair after they are
triggered. Landmines can also be homemade, improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

Each mine is cheap to manufacture and plant but takes much more resources to
remove. Once a landmine is detected, chemicals can be injected into the ground to
deactivate the mines. Then, the mine can be removed. However, identifying and
removing all the mines that have been planted worldwide will cost tens of billions of
dollars.

Conventional Landmine Detection and Neutralization Methods

In addition to its high cost, landmine detection is a major bottleneck to military

operations, since it relies on methods that are slow, risky, expensive, or hard to scale.

Initially, soldiers detected landmines by slowly probing the ground with a stick or
bayonet. Animals like dogs and rats can also be trained to sniff out vapors from the
explosives in the mines, but the process is expensive and hard to scale. Metal detectors
will work on landmines that contain metal but will not detect landmines that are made
mostly of plastic. All these methods can be slow or imprecise.

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However, an explosives disposal team needs to detect and remove the landmines
correctly and quickly. When the probability of detection is low, the anti-landmine system
misses many explosives that will continue to cause damage. Also, unidentified mines
may damage the expensive anti-mine equipment. On the other hand, false alarms
cause the disposal team to waste time and resources.

Specialized demining machines and tanks can expedite mine removal. They will roll
through the minefield to detonate the mines and clear a safe path. However, the number
of heavy armor vehicles is limited.

Ground-penetrating Radar

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is a relatively new technology for demining.

Unlike metal detectors, GPR devices can detect mines that contain little or no metal
(i.e., are mostly plastic) and are useful in locating and disarming landmines via their
electric properties. A GPR device emits radio waves and receives the return signal. By
analyzing the return signal, the device can determine the shapes and locations of
underground objects and distinguish landmines from rock and soil.

Although GPR is a mature technology for other applications, such as searching for
archaeological artifacts, it is still in its nascent stage for demining. Although GPR
devices offer a much higher degree of precision due to their ability to analyze data, they
also demand greater capacity for data processing from the single-board computers
connected to them.

ADL's Client Develops the Best Mine Detection System

ADL's client, an international company with a global customer base of NATO and non-
NATO countries and extensive relationships with major military contractors, was
working on the next generation of mine detection systems. The company intended to
create an anti-landmine system based on its 3D-radar step-frequency GPR technology.
The GPR technology was designed specifically to detect metallic and non-metallic
mines, or IEDs, that are buried underground.

The GPR and a metal detector would be responsible for collecting data from the ground.
The data is processed in the embedded computer with automatic target recognition

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(ATR) algorithms to visualize the underground structures in 3D and identify relevant

targets. Then, bomb experts can determine the next steps, such as neutralization. Also,
the anti-landmine system has mechanisms for automatic marking, ground tracking, and
navigation. Lastly, the system would be protected by control carrier brackets with
damage-resistant features.

All these components demanded high monitoring, coordination, and integration;

moreover, they needed to be visualized by a user-friendly, touchscreen graphical
interface that helped the system operator 'see' under the ground. In other words, ADL's
client sought a mission-embedded computing system to be the brain of the mine
detection system. The embedded computer must synergize with and integrate the high
performance of the system's components. Also, the computer needed a small form
factor to fit into the system flexibly.

During a mine detection operation, it was also essential that the system worked quickly,
correctly, and precisely to keep the equipment and personnel safe. The computing
system must be extremely reliable, fail zero times in its missions, and be ruggedized to
perform reliably in harsh environments.

ADL's Problem-Solving Approach

In mission-critical industrial applications, such as those in a military environment, failure

is unacceptable. Many applications require real-time results. Therefore, timing is critical.
System performance delay or hardware failure may have grave consequences.

Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) applications require the continuous collection,

processing, and storage of a lot of data in environments that are often remote and
hostile. In addition, the form factor of the single-board computer (SBC) will need to
adhere strictly to space, weight, and power (SWaP) requirements. Therefore, the ability
of SBCs to integrate data sets, interoperate with other systems, and perform in a low-
maintenance and high-consistency manner will affect IIoT application effectiveness.

ADL provides high-performing, compact, industrial-grade SBCs for mission-critical IIoT

applications that go beyond hardware to achieve complete embedded solutions.

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ADL's Collaboration With Clients

Designing an embedded system is a complex process that involves various engineering

teams in systems, mechanical, thermal, electrical, cable, and software. In addition, the
design process requires input from additional teams for prototyping, testing, and quality
control. It is critical to optimize the design, ensure the performance and reliability of the
embedded solutions, and increase design efficiency and accuracy to avoid costly and
time-consuming re-designing and re-testing cycles.

Therefore, ADL's understanding of the client's need for flexibility and robust support
during product customization and development was critical. By providing an initial
solution with an 80% fit, ADL worked closely with the client to get to the final 100% with
the turnkey system design service. In this service, ADL provided customer consultation,
including conceptualization, proof of concept, development/design, prototype, pilot run,
review, quality control, and production. By supporting the client with a holistic System
Development Process that captured the complexity of requirements, specifications, and
changes that arose during system development, ADL would reduce the client's overall
cost and time.

With the customized mission-embedded computers from ADL, the client could maximize
the performance and reliability of its mounted mine detection system.

The data collected by the detection system's GPR and integrated advanced metal
detector are sent to ADL's embedded computing system. Using automatic target
recognition algorithms, the embedded computer visualizes the underground
microstructures and the environment surrounding a potential target in three dimensions.
Also, the integrated electromagnetic interference sensors can help reduce the
background noise level to increase signal strength.

As a result, ADL's computer system can achieve real-time, automatic, and precise
detection, recognition, and location of metallic and low-metallic surface-laid, shallow-
buried antitank landmines, trigger mechanisms, and deeply buried IEDs.

Most importantly, the detection system has achieved a breakthrough level of probability
detection and a minimal level of false alarms. Many options, including GPS coordinates,
inertial- and satellite-based corrections, manual marking, and multiple- or single-spray
marking, enable the detection system to mark buried threats precisely.

ADL's embedded computing system has also provided a user-friendly graphical user
interface. Its integrated numeric keypad, intuitive controls, resistive touchscreen display,

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and sunlight-readable Liquid Crystal Display features significantly enhance interface

usability.

The detection system is readily adaptable to other robotic platforms or other vehicles.
Ruggedized to operate in complex and uneven terrains, the system can also minimize
warfighter workload and move the warfighter out of the blast zone.

The system has the optional capability of remote visualization and operation, which
provides a greater standoff distance and protection for the operator. Remote
visualization also enables the system operator to transmit real-time data to a secondary
display monitored by a threat analyst from an armored vehicle. This two-way
communication allows the operator and the analyst to collaborate on threat analysis and
determine the optimal path forward, marking the threat for further evaluation.

The detection system also has file management capability. During a mission, it can
store a large amount of scanned data on the local drive. After the mission, it can offload
data via USB ports and wireless connectivity. As a result, the system can save
recordable mission data post-mission analysis for action reviews and forensic analysis.
With these combined capabilities, the mounted detection system has optimized
performance with a breakthrough improvement in the probability of detection and a
significant reduction in the false alarm rate.

To date, the client's system is the only vehicle-mounted solution available to investigate
and detect buried explosive hazards. The mounted detection system has been
successfully deployed in combat in Afghanistan with the U.S. and its allies. The system
is also seeing usage in the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. The system is used in other
countries, such as Canada, Australia, Spain, Turkey, Italy, Angola, Cambodia, and other
nations worldwide, to prevent military and civilian casualties.

Call to Action

At ADL, we recognize the challenges that our clients face in designing, developing, and
customizing embedded systems for specific applications. We offer consistent and robust
technical, engineering, and design support beyond the hardware. Our experienced
engineering teams help clients refine design concepts according to their critical
requirements with full-turnkey system design services. Moreover, we strive to create
innovative, customized solutions that will help our clients accelerate the design process
with optimized results and reduced costs. Our client's success is ADL's success.

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Contact ADL to discuss your requirements.

[1] OneWorld International, International Campaign to Ban Landmines