Danish robot specialists develop technology for clearing hidden dangers in Ukraine

Unexploded Russian shells and mines in Ukraine pose a major threat to vast agricultural areas. Several Danish organisations have joined forces to develop technology that will make cleanup faster and less risky.

156.000 km² of land – equivalent to more than three times Denmark's area – is estimated to be out of commission in Ukraine. The reason is several million unexploded shells and mines lurking beneath the surface.

Danish companies and knowledge organisations have now taken the first steps in the development project DISARM toward safer and faster localisation of unexploded ammunition (also called UXO’s in military terminology).

The method? Mobile robots and advanced sensors.

− It's crucial that we deploy new technology to support Ukraine. With the DISARM project, we're working to create safe solutions that can help clear mines and shells faster and more safely, so the land can be used again. This is an important step toward reestablishing normal conditions for Ukrainians, says Mikkel Agerbæk, Executive Vice President at the Danish Technological Institute (DTI).

Robots in the danger zone instead of humans

Russia fires up to 10.000 shells daily in Ukraine, many of which do not explode upon impact. In addition, there are an unknown number of mines covering enormous land areas in the country.

Currently, clearance is done manually using handheld metal detectors, which is time-consuming.

With estimates suggesting it could take up to 70 years to clear the affected areas in Ukraine, and a shortage of trained personnel to perform the risky clearance, the need for innovative solutions is more pressing than ever.

− If Ukrainians are to cultivate their land again and move around safely, efforts to clear the country of these explosive, hidden dangers must be strengthened. To contribute to this, we have developed a robot concept consisting of a multi-sensor setup. It combines technologies such as ground-penetrating radar and magnetometers to increase the probability of detecting UXOs before humans enter risk areas, says Kristian Skaarup, Director for Defense and Space Robotics at DTI.

− Current bomb and mine clearance processes are costly and extremely slow. By using robot technology and combining advanced sensors, we are trying to make cleanup faster, cheaper, and even safer, says V'yacheslav Shvaidak, Co-Founder and CEO of Dropla, one of the partners in the project.

− The important purpose is to help Ukrainians cultivate their land again and move around safely. Anything we can do to automate the process and reduce the number of human bombs and mine clearers is an important contribution, emphasises Bo Bischoff from Copenhagen Hazard Mapping, who has also contributed knowledge to the project.

The technology developed in DISARM is still in the early stages, and there is still some way to go before it can be implemented in the field.

− We can see that the combination of sensors we initially tested works. We are now working to find funding for further development and field testing of the technologies. It's a challenging task to solve, as unexploded ammunition can lie at different depths depending on the soil type. So there is still work to be done to improve reliability and reduce false positives – so the system doesn't react to every metal object in the ground, says Kristian Skaarup from DTI.

The project, which is supported with funds from the Ministry of Higher Education and Science through Odense Robotics, is a collaboration between Aalborg University, Dropla, Normark Defence, Capra Robotics, Hecto Drone, and the Danish Technological Institute.