Detection and removal of landmines is, at the present time, a\nserious problem of political, economical, environmental and humanitarian\ndimensions in many countries over the world. The simplicity and\ncost-effectiveness of mines are major factors in explaining the widespread use\nof mines throughout the numerous countries that are now faced with dealing with\nlandmines & explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination problem. Landmines\nare normally victim-operated instead of being specifically targeted, making\nthem virtually unique among other weapon systems. These landmines make no\ndistinction between friendly or enemy, children or animals. The\ncivilian-purpose demining or humanitarian demining aims at finding and removing\nabandoned landmines without any hazard to the environment. These landmines had\nbeen intended for military use when they were planted, but their duty has\nexpired. It is estimated that there are more than 110 million active mines\nscattered in 68 countries. Humanitarian demining includes performing two main\nprocesses, namely, ERW localization and ERW disposal. The reconnaissance stage\nof the demining procedure aims at accurately localizing surface-laid and buried\nlandmines and UXOs. This process is more challenging and the success of the\nsecond process depends mainly on the accurate localization of the ERW. If the\nlandmines are accurately localized, they can be destroyed or deactivated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aligned with 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by UN\nMember States, humanitarian demining can play an instrumental role in achieving\nmany of these goals. For example, the second goal of the SDGs aims at ending hunger,\nachieving food security and improved nutrition and promoting sustainable\nagriculture. In many of the most affected areas of the world, agriculture is\nthe mainstay of the economy. Landmines are planted in fields, forests, around\nwells, water sources, and hydroelectric installations, making these unusable,\nor usable only at great risk. Both Afghanistan and Cambodia could double their\nagricultural production and reduce hunger if landmines were eliminated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages\nis the focus on the third goal. Landmines kill or incapacitate their victims. 5,000\npeople, of whom 46% are children have been falling victim to landmines and unexploded\nordnances (UXOs) annually in many of the countries affected by war or in\npost-conflict situations around the world. Civilian casualties represent 79% of\ncasualties where security forces casualties represent 18% and casualties\nbetween deminers are 3%. Significant percentage of these casualties is the\nresult of Anti-personnel (AP) landmines. Landmine injuries include blindness,\nburns, destroyed limbs and shrapnel wounds. Often the victim dies from the\nblast because they do not get to medical care in time. Moreover, landmines create millions of\nrefugees or internally displaced people. Humanitarian demining is definitely an\nenabler for healthy lives and well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fourth goal focuses on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality\neducation and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. Minesweepers\nas a technical challenge provides an inspirational and motivational platform\nfor students, researchers and laypersons alike, to present their work to a\nwider forum with extensive media coverage. This competition can be seen as constructional\nactivity for Challenge-based leaning (CBL) in both traditional and\nself-learning process. Constructionism is an active learning process in which\nstudents construct things that are personally meaningful to themselves or\nothers around them. Instead of being served information in the traditional\none-way setting, students develop their own knowledge and understandings of a\nsubject through physical construction and implementation of their ideas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Humanitarian demining is a step toward making the affected cities\nsafer and more ready for sustainable development to achieve the eleventh goal\nof the SDGs. Until recently, about 100,000 mines were being removed, and about\ntwo million more were planted. The annual rate of clearance is far slower. If\ndemining efforts remain about the same as they are now, and no new mines are\nlaid, it will still take 1100 years to get rid of all the world\u2019s active\nlandmines and UXOs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The focus of fifteenth goal is to protect, restore and promote\nsustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat\ndesertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity\nloss. Humanitarian demining improves life on land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Humanitarian demining reduces hostile impact of landmines and UXOs\nand achieves peace for the inhabitants of the post-conflict zones as part of the\nsixteenth goal of the SDGs. Many governmental institutions, NGOs and technical\nand non-technical organization are partnering together as directed by the\nseventeenth goal of the SDGs towards a landmine-free world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many international initiatives have been established in order to\nban anti-personnel mines and to provide awareness programs and to assist the\nvictims. These invitees include, but are not limited to, International Campaign\nto Ban Landmines, Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, United Nations Mine\nAction, Ottawa Treaty, Swiss Foundation for Mine Action, Geneva Call, Canadian\nLandmine Foundation and International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons (ICBUW).\nOttawa treaty, formally known as, convention on the prohibition of the use,\nstockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines and on their\ndestruction is an anti-personnel mine ban convention that aims at eliminating\nanti-personnel landmines around the world. Up to date, there are 162 States\nParties to the treaty. Only 35 states are still remaining outside the Ottawa\ntreaty. United States, Russia, China and Egypt are still non-signatories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
All of the previously mentioned initiatives aim at banning\nlandmines and providing risk education and victim assistance. Very few\ninitiatives have been undertaken or are currently undertaken to tackle the\nproblem from technical points of view in terms of innovating detection and\ndisposal techniques. While basic landmine detection and neutralizing theologies\nremain almost the same, landmine technology improved dramatically. Moreover,\nthe humanitarian demining activities carried-out to remove landmines and\nunexploded ordnances from the vast contaminated areas are not on the same level\nof the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The conventional methods currently used in different countries for\nlandmine detection relay on close-in detection or close proximity detection\nwhere the deminer inspects the field from a close distance using hand-probing\ntechniques such as metal detectors, magnetometers and ground penetrating radar,\nmanned armoured vehicles or biological techniques. This incubates a high risk\ndue to the potential detonation of possible landmine or UXO. For example, in\nthe conventional mag-and-flag approach or Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)\ncommonly used, human deminers use metal detectors to identify targets, which\nare then flagged for subsequent digging. These conventional approaches make the\nprocedure of removing great numbers of landmines tedious, very slow,\ninefficient, dangerous and costly. The deminers sweep the area at least 3 times\nslowly and manually probe 2000 times per square meter to be certain that the\narea under scanning is clear from landmines. Deminers sometimes stay weeks and\neven months without finding a single landmine. A deminer is killed and two\ninjured for every 5000 successfully removed landmines. In some missions only\n12% of the target landmines are detected. Moreover, in manual probing no\ndigital data are recorded and the success depends upon the deminer\u2019s skill\nresulting in inconsistent results. Consequently, more efficient ways to detect\nand locate landmines and UXOs are needed. This is one of the main objective of Minesweepers\ncompetition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n