h a l f b a k e r yIt's not a thing. It will be a thing.
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A small helium-filled, *low-flying* blimp (the size of two
large suitcases and altitude 10 feet or less) flies a
preprogrammed grid, carrying navigation sensors to
adjust altitude and
bearing as required. It uses magnetometer sensors to
detect
magnetic anomalies that indicate a landmine
is present.
It
then marks the position using GPS (or even spraying a
bright-
coloured dye onto land below.)
If power is an issue, a tether to a generator carries a
power
line, and also serves as a failsafe to prevent the drone
getting
lost.
[link]
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Nice, but don't drag that wire over the landmines. [+] |
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Magnetometers need to be very close to
the surface to detect mines. |
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There could be entanglement issues if the wire gets
caught. Perhaps, have a squad of them, tethered
together by the power line/cable combination, but
holding the tether arrangement mostly off the
ground. |
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Even better if it were possible to substitute "cat" for "mine" ... |
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//Wy not? Wire's cheap, if it detonates the mines, all well and good.// |
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Because unless it is heavily armoured, the wire will break and the blimp will float off across a minefield (depending upon wind direction), where retrieval might be a tad difficult. |
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Modern mines contain very little metal, to frustrate easy detection and removal by metal detectors. |
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This therefore is not going to work. |
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Ok how about plan b a larger blimp, with a heavy 60kg
dead weight dangling down on a light weight rope.
Using the same power line drifting at an angle. The
Man sized weight is bumped up and down until
"Kablooie" weight is sent 15 m away, possibly
triggering further explosions. To deal with the
explosion pulling and tearing the blimp scenario may
require some elasticated attachments may be
necessary. |
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Blimp is wheeled back to base station and new 60kg
weight is added. Systematic test resumes. |
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It sounds like the blimp is likely to endure some career-ending injuries in the process, but I'm all for the idea. How about selling these things in pairs: one mine, one blimp. |
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Magnetometers can be much more effective at locating things than metal detectors. However, magnetometers must be a good distance from electrical wires in order to detect anything. |
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