Ever wondered how drone-based magnetometers perform for detecting landmines and UXO?
Check out this excellent report by SPH Engineering, who tested two UAV-based magnetometer systems (MagNIMBUS, and MagDrone R1) on the Demining Research Community's seeded minefield.
Their main Conclusions are:
" 1. Both tested sensors –?MagNIMBUS?and?MagDrone R1?– performed similarly well, detecting 20 and 21 out of 131 ferrous and non-ferrous objects at an altitude of 1.0 m, and 43 and 41 targets at an altitude of 0.5 m.
2. Among all the targets in the seeded field, a total of 57 objects were identified using the?MagNIMBUS?magnetometer at a flight altitude of 0.2 m. This represents the highest number of detections achieved under these conditions, highlighting that lower altitudes significantly enhance detection results.
3. While decreasing flight altitude greatly improves the detectability of smaller targets, it also requires decreasing the separation distance between flight lines to ensure sufficient data coverage.
4. The significance of an operational Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) system in magnetic data recording cannot be overstated. Accurate and precise data acquisition is essential, particularly when detecting small unexploded ordnance (UXOs), as this requires maintaining both an exact flight path and altitude. The necessity arises from the fact that the magnetic field—and consequently the detection range—diminishes with the third power of the distance.
5. Test fields, such as the Demining Research Community’s Seeded field at the OSU Center for Fire and Explosives, Forensic Investigation, Training and Research range play an important role in UXO detection research, allowing to test the detection hardware in controlled conditions, as well as to improve skills of the operators and data interpreters."
Find the full report below ->
SPH team: Alexey Dobrovolskiy, Maikls Andriksons, Dylan Owens
https://lnkd.in/enVPSENt
