Unmanned vehicles for demining: from theory to practice Dr Geert - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Unmanned vehicles for demining: from theory to practice

Dr Geert De Cubber; R l Milit A d f B l i Royal Military Academy of Belgium;

Colloquium – Improvised explosive devices and antipersonnel mines: meeting the challenges; Brussels 17/05/2016

Sum m ary

• Focus in this presentation on:

– Non‐Technical Survey Micro Aerial Vehicle RPAS – Technical Survey Close‐In Detection tEODor mobile robot + MCMD

• The presented work comes from the research

p done within the FP7 TIRAMISU project

CLOSE-I N DETECTI ON W I TH UGV’S

• One of the TIRAMISU tools for close‐in‐detection the goal was to

integrate a Multi Channel Metal Detector (Vallon) with the integrate a Multi‐Channel Metal Detector (Vallon) with the mobile robot platform tEODor (RMA). Characteristic of the RMA tEODor mobile robot

platform

Length: 1300 mm ≥1350 mm (system in packing position) Width: 700 mm Height: (depends if we have the sensors or not tt h d t th b t) ith t it i attached to the robot) without sensors it is around 1000mm Weight: 350kg (standard configuration including batteries without sensors) the MCMD is around 27kg Speed of the platform*:

• max. 3.0 km/h

Turning circle:* 1460 mm (theoretical) Climbing ability (slopes):* 45° Climbing ability (obstacles): 250 mm Wading depth: ≤ 250 mm Payload: ≤ 200 kg Power supply: Lead‐gel rechargeable battery; 4 x 12V, 85 Ah Battery charger: Standard AC connector input ( AC 230V/50Hz) Endurance (Nominal life)*: approx. 2‐3h mixed operation Temperature range : ‐20°C to +60°C

VALI DATI ON ACTI VI TI ES

CROATI A & BELGI UM CROATI A & BELGI UM

• The system was tested and validated together with the Croatian Mine

y g Action Teams and SEDEE‐DOVO (Belgium Defence) at Meerdaal, Belgium. Th fi ti f th DOVO it i i b l The configuration of the DOVO site is given below:  Zone 1: Anti‐personnel mines & Grenades (depths from 1 to 3 cm)  Zone 2: Anti‐tank mines (depths from 10 to 20 cm) & UXO (depths from 10 to 30 cm)

TEST SITE

 Zone 3: UXO’s (depths from 10 to 30 cm)

VALI DATI ON RESULTS

tEODor platform demonstrating a multi‐channel metal detector array in t l t i t i SEDEE/DOVO S h t f th l extremely wet environments in SEDEE/DOVO. Screenshots of the real‐ time acquisition and processing software, showing pre‐processed scans

• f multi‐channel metal detector georeferenced on a map (left).

g p ( )

VALI DATI ON RESULTS VI DEOS

V1 v2

LAND MI NE ABSENCE SENSI NG ASSETS. S S RPAS I N TECHNI CAL SURVEY

• Use of RPAS as a complementary tool for the fast
• Use of RPAS as a complementary tool for the fast

inspection of laid cluster munitions, possibly vapor detection 3D modeling of the field and Staff detection, 3D modeling of the field and Staff training.

Bosnia mission UAS operational use

In the period of May ‐ June 2014, Bosnia and Serbia where hit hard by massive flooding after abundant rainfall causing floods and g g

• landslides. An estimated 1.5 million people were affected (39% of the

population). Flooding has led to at least 53 deaths in both countries.

Bosnia mission RPAS operational use

To cope with the crisis, the Bosnian government asked for help through the European Civil Protection Mechanism. Via this g p mechanism, the Belgian government reacted by deploying the B‐FAST team to Bosnia, with high‐capacity water‐pumps

Bosnia mission RPAS operational use

As coordinator of two EU FP7 research projects, ICARUS (on search and rescue robotics) and TIRAMISU (on humanitarian demining), the ) ( g) Royal Military Academy decided to send an UAS tool in support of the end‐users (B‐FAST and the Bosnian Mine Action Centre BH‐MAC)

Mine Situation in Bosnia and Mine Situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina before floods

• 220,000

land mines and unexploded munitions remaining across 13,077 locations. munitions remaining across 13,077 locations.

• 1,755 km² (3,4% of the country) mined

territory territory

• more than 8,000 people killed or injured by

landmines before

k l f

landmines before

• socio‐economic impact

1 l 1

51,197 km² total area of B&H

2019 clear mine country + 10y

Floods and Mine Situation in Bosnia and Floods and Mine Situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina May-June 2014

Some facts Some facts

• Flooded area: 831.4 km² with more then 35

landslides inside the minefields.

• Around 47 km² of suspected hazardous

area (SHA) in 33 areas under direct impact f d l d lid

• f torrents and landslides.
• 80.2 km² of new potentially hazardous area
• 140 km of narrow line mine fields (bank of

river Sava, border to EU red line). , )

• by 4th July 2014, 1018 UXO, 92 mines and 3

cluster bombs were found as well as cluster bombs were found, as well as 40.163 ammunition pieces.

12

source:

UAS operational use

T i i Two missions:

• Immediate response to natural disasters: to assist the teams

(SaR teams; BHMAC; MSec of B&H) for missions such as ( ; ; ) damage assessment, dike breach detection, mapping, aerial inspection and for re‐localizing the many explosive remnants

• f war (ERW) which have been displaced due to the
• f war (ERW) which have been displaced due to the

landslides and floods.

Ti F M J 2014 (2 k ) Time Frame: May – June 2014 (2 weeks) End users: SaR teams, BHMAC, Ministry of Security of B&H

Bosnia mission RPAS operational use

• In the period of two weeks RMA

team operated with a VTOL UAS on 13 l i ( h d l 13 locations (north and central part

• f the country).
• Performed

around 20 flights (manual and waypoint flights) within VLOS in urban and semi within VLOS in urban and semi‐ urban areas.

• Flight permits where granted within
• Flight permits where granted within

½ day.

• Fli ht altitude up to 150

(up to

• Flight altitude up to 150m (up to

300m in some case)

Bosnia mission Picture Report

End users were brought into contact with the RPAS‐tools. The German Federal Agency for Technical Relief team B d l T h i h Hilf k THW) Bundesanstalt Technisches Hilfswerk THW) Region: Samac 29.5.2014

Bosnia mission Picture Report

• The UAS was used for visual inspection and damage

assessment Region: Orasje/Maglaj 23 5 2014 Region: Orasje/Maglaj 23.5.2014

Bosnia mission Picture Report

• The UAS provided valuable information for the end‐users on

dike‐breaches

k b h Dike breaches MSA

Region: Orasje 28.5.2014

Torrents Region of interest

Workflow planning of the UAS flight mission for Mine Action

• Defining the areas for aerial remote sensing based on the requirements of BHMAC

1

Defining the areas for aerial remote sensing based on the requirements of BHMAC

2

• Terrain reconnaissance (defining the access points of the mine suspected area, measuring the D-GPS

coordinates, defining the feasibility of the mission, weather and environmental conditions, security aspects) 2 aspects) 3

• Producing the flight plan for an automatic waypoint-based flight, setting up the ground control

points.

w ork

4

• Field deployment (equipment check, ground crew team, weather conditions) and flight execution

(daily flight capacities, constraints)

Field w

5

• Field work complete. Analysing the flight log files, producing geo-referenced data sets.

6

• Post processing activities, generating digital orthophotos, digital elevation models, defining new

risk maps. D t bilit d t t th t diti l i ti d

7

• Data usability and support to the traditional mine action procedures.

18

Data Collection Flow Data Collection Flow

Region: Maglaj 2 6 2014 Region: Maglaj 2.6.2014

Bosnia mission Picture Report

• The UAS was used for localizing the landmines which have

been re‐localized due to the landslides

Region: Gospic (HR) 22.4.2015

DETECTED: DETECTED: Rocket launcher 64mm M80 DETECTED: 2 x PMR 3

Region: Sarajevo – Vogosca 4.6.2014

DETECTED: 2 x PMR‐3 Yugoslavian anti‐personnel stake mine

Region: Zavrsje 1.6.2014

Mission Videos Mission Videos

Bosnia Mission :: Floods 2014 UAS Processing Results Bosnia Mission :: Floods 2014 g

UAS operational use

S d i i Second missions:

• Mine action after the floods (new project): Advance mine action in

natural disaster by survey from UAS and manned helicopter

– landslides – deposits of torrents, floods – destroyed mine fields l l f f ld – long lines of mine fields – new potentially hazardous suspected areas

• End users: BHMAC, CROMAC, Serbian MAC; Time frame: one

year

Završje – overlapped RPAS Digital Ortho Photo map and DOF 1000 Završje – contour lines of UAS DSM

d d h l MAFF UAS and manned helicopter missions

S d i i Second missions:

• Mine action after the floods (new project): Advance mine action in

natural disaster by survey from UAS and manned helicopter

– landslides – deposits of torrents, floods – destroyed mine fields l l f f ld – long lines of mine fields – new potentially hazardous suspected areas

• End users: BHMAC, CROMAC, Serbian MAC; Time frame: one year
• Develop initial models for spatial estimation of new hazardous risk caused

by the shifting of landmines and UxO’s which had not been mine suspected before the disaster suspected before the disaster.

• Operationaly validate survey by UAS for mine action in natural disaster.
• Implementing and introducing UAS in the SOP’s of Mine Action Centers

Introducing RPAS in SOP of MA Introducing RPAS in SOP of MA

• Introduction of RPAS in Mine Action (building local capacities)
• Training

14 surveyors from three organizations (10 BHMAC, 2 CROMAC, 2 Norwegian Peopleʹs Aid )

• n the job training (2 days RMA)
• n‐the‐job training (2 days, RMA),
• training with the UAS (14 days, producer),
• 9 days workshop Survey for Mine Action with RPAS (HCR – CTDT‐

RMA) RMA).

• Provide several RPAS & simulators & stereoscopes for BH MAC and
• ne aerial survey system for regional application in the case of

y y g pp natural disaster in HCR.

24

Spin off: Application of RPAS in Mine Action (derived 14 surveyors)

Id f ll d b UA h f

• Identify on images collected by UAS the reference points

and objects mentioned in mine field records Fi d/id tif / h k th f L d R l Mi i

• Find/identify/check paths for Land Release Missions
• Recconnaissance in accidents/incidents in mine fields

Id tif ti li

• Identify separation lines
• Correcting the mine suspected areas

S f i fi ld f fi

• Survey of mine fields after open space fires
• Survey of mine fields, SHA after natural disaster
• Survey of marking tables
• QC of clearing process

25

Operational PROS and CONS of RPAS use

• RPAS not for large area mapping

L b t th d i t l diti lik i d (>8 / ) i

• Less robust on weather and environmental conditions like wind (>8m/s), rain,

autonomy, GPS quality, height differences

• Visual line of sight (VLOS) operation required (not always technical constrains)

S f t bl d t th hift f i d U O’

• Safety problem due to the shift of mines and UxO’s
• Reduced time for data acquisition in the field
• Reduced exposure to risk for surveyors

p y

• Inaccessible/hazardous areas can be surveyed

remotely

• Improved

data – high‐resolution aerial imagery

• New possibilities
• More cost effective

26

Feedback p o ided Feedback provided by the end-users

“In order to get relevant information of this area from water and land would have cost us about 3 days. With the UAS we were able to provide even better results within 2 hours. With the second fli ht e et a 3D

• del of the a ea o

hi h the B FAST ould flight we get a 3D model of the area on which the B‐FAST could determine the natural flow of the water. This information we could even not get from the ground.” (B‐FAST Team leader) even not get from the ground. (B FAST Team leader)

Feedback p o ided Feedback provided by the end-users

“The results obtained by the UAS have been of utmost importance during the response period and also for post processing and i i i f f i i i ” (Hi h k d i investigation of future activities.” (High ranked representative

• f the Ministry of Security B&H)

“The rapid mapping activities and the results we get from the UAS mission are crucial for damage assessment and for re localizing the mission are crucial for damage assessment, and for re‐localizing the many explosive remnants of war which have been displaced due to the landslides and flooding water. In this case we did not risk to put fl g p humans in the dangerous zones. ” (Technical operation officer

• f BHMAC)

Conclusion Conclusion

O l d h d fl d d

• Overal time spend on the 2 missions (during floods and

post‐floods activities) 74 days. E d b ht i t t t ith th UAS t l

• End users were brought into contact with the UAS‐tools.
• Unmanned tools (ground, air, marine robots) can play a

critical role to save human lives and add value to critical role to save human lives and add value to SAR/MA operations.

• One of the spin‐off of the project is introduction of UAS
• One of the spin off of the project is introduction of UAS

in MA and first step was training 14 surveyors for deployment small UAS in mine action. p y

• Surveyors self started to identified mine action functions

where use of small UAS can/will provide significant impact to their daily work.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

More inform ation

• http://www.fp7‐icarus.eu/
• htt

//f 7 ti a i u eu/

• http://fp7‐tiramisu.eu/

d bb b geert.de.cubber@rma.ac.be haris.balta@rma.ac.be