Ukraine Develops AI Drone for Mine Detection
Ukraine has created a drone that can detect mines using special equipment and artificial intelligence.
The Brave1 cluster reported that an AI drone can survey up to 10 thousand square meters of mined territory in a day.
This technology is being developed by UADamage, a Ukrainian company specializing in humanitarian demining and restoration of territories.
The company’s solutions allow for the detection of various types of mines and explosive devices automatically – quickly, accurately and without human intervention. Thanks to a grant from Brave1, the team purchased high-precision sensors and achieved a breakthrough in the development of artificial intelligence-based systems.
The drone has four types of sensors: RGB camera, infrared camera, magnetometer, and the integration of a ground penetrating radar is in development to expand the system’s functionality.
The system is trained to automatically detect explosive objects by analyzing magnetic field maps.
The drone’s Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) provides non-contact subsurface imaging from the air, allowing for efficient surveys of large or hard-to-reach areas. It detects hidden objects, communications and cavities by transmitting radar pulses into the ground and analyzing the reflected signals.
The data collected from various sources is combined into a single information model and forms a detailed map of the mine danger in the surveyed area.
One of the key advantages of the development is its ease of use: after completing the overflight, the operator simply removes the flash drive, inserts it into the computer, and in 5-10 minutes a ready-made map appears on the UADamage platform.
This is no longer an experimental model: the company has surveyed more than 61,000 square meters of minefields and digitized 520,000 square meters of territory upon request. Recently, UADamage, with the support of Brave1, raised $400,000 in investment to scale the technology.
“Ukraine is gradually becoming a global leader in the use of AI for demining,” Brave1 representatives said.
Back in March, it became known that Ukraine would officially introduce the discipline of drone piloting for performing aerial reconnaissance and explosive ordnance detection tasks.
