Holographic Radar Promises Better Mine Clearing

Believe it or not, people still use metal detectors to find the damn things.

Removing land mines is dangerous, time-intensive and expensive due to the old and imprecise methods used. However, an international team of researchers and engineers hopes that a holographic radar system will change that.

Tim Bechtel, adjunct professor of geosciences at Franklin & Marshall College, characterizes the RASCAN as a radar flashlight. A transmitter sends microwaves into the ground, creating ‘slices’ of subterranean images and revealing what lies buried in a particular area. The slices are then assembled into a more complete color image, color-coded to represent "how different the object is from normal soil," Bechtel says.

Unlike metal detectors, RASCAN can detect plastic explosives and distinguish land mines from a piece of scrap metal. In dry soil, holographic radar is able to generate an image as deep as 15 centimeters and can cover a square meter in about three or four minutes, and frequency adjustments allow for better penetration but lower resolution, and vice-versa.

The technology however, is not yet ready for prime time. The antenna has to remain perfectly perpendicular to the ground, while the RASCAN's effective range is currently considered too short. A RASCAN-conveying robot is currently under construction at the University of Florence.