There are some wonderful other films in the contest this was submitted to:
http://vimeo.com/focusforwardfilms/semifinalists
The one on synthetic fuel was especially interesting:
Low-cost Solution to Clearing Afghan Landmines
91–100 of 181 posts
Re: Low-cost Solution to Clearing Afghan Landmines
#92Update to those who last checked in the 1990s:
"Hauntingly beautiful" is now officially a cliche.
I miss it, too, but the overuse is crushing any significance it once had.
Re: Low-cost Solution to Clearing Afghan Landmines
#93 We've updated our site to better accommodate you and the world. This means the browser you're currently using is no longer supported
Re: Low-cost Solution to Clearing Afghan Landmines
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
> civilian demining which demands a 99% clearance rate. Is that an actual official classification? It seems a bit low. "There were 1000 mines here, and we found 990 of them. Good enough, I say. Move in, and bring your kids!"
The actual figure is 99.6%.[0] That's the statistical confidence level for clearance required of contractors and to declare an area safe, because it's impossible to prove beyond any doubt that there is no longer a single mine left in an area. Demining teams still aim for 100% though. For instance, Mechem's sniffer dogs have displayed a 90% success rate on target filters, so statistically having three dogs per team pe…
>For instance, Mechem's sniffer dogs have displayed a 90% success rate on target filters, so statistically having three dogs per team perform cross-checking paths on the field should produce the 99.6% confidence level for the type of mines the dogs can detect.
I know nothing at all about this area, but presumably this only works if the 10% failure rate is random rather than based on some quality of the undetected mines?
Re: Low-cost Solution to Clearing Afghan Landmines
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
My favourite solution so far was to use plants that turn red near mines, thus pretty much creating red circles around their location. I read about it few years ago in a science magazine, but somehow the research seems to have died. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demining#Plants
Unfortunately Aresa Biodetection, the company behind that, stopped all research into their strain of the thale cress plant for landmine detection. I would guess that they hit a dead-end in their research, perhaps they could not make it reliable enough.
Judging by the video, growing anything on that land would be near impossible - it may be that this is often an issue?
Re: Low-cost Solution to Clearing Afghan Landmines
#96This is a great solution, but it seems like it is designed to follow a random path (that is, where the wind blows). How do you prevent this from creating a false sense of security, when in fact there are areas of the desert which have not been tested? I remember when I was little I built a small platform high up in a tree. My father refused to let me put a rail around it, because the sort of rail I could build would…
A truly random path would be pretty good, since you approach perfect coverage with repeated runs. Alas, the wind direction is not random, particularly in this kind of environment. An interesting demining approach is to buy the local villagers lots of sheep and pen them in the areas of concern. Once in a while a sheep goes boom. Meanwhile: wool and baby sheep as a side effect.
Sheep like to eat stuff like grass, which does not appear to be plentiful in the areas in question. You could feed hay, but then the sheep will congregate around the area where you dump the hay instead of wandering around getting blown up. Not to mention that hay (as well as fencing, and possibly water in some of those areas) would be expensive.
Re: Low-cost Solution to Clearing Afghan Landmines
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
Truly random paths would give you the 97.8% probability that there are no mines left, over a course of N field traversals. Obviously, that ain't good enough.
but because of the low cost we can create a lot of these and let them run over a long period of time.
Surely the trip to collect the thing after it passes out the minefield is an issue, it could take days to retrieve.
Re: Low-cost Solution to Clearing Afghan Landmines
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
Truly random paths would give you the 97.8% probability that there are no mines left, over a course of N field traversals. Obviously, that ain't good enough.
but because of the low cost we can create a lot of these and let them run over a long period of time.
Surely the trip to collect the thing after it passes out the minefield is an issue, it could take days to retrieve.
Re: Low-cost Solution to Clearing Afghan Landmines
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
Truly random paths would give you the 97.8% probability that there are no mines left, over a course of N field traversals. Obviously, that ain't good enough.
but because of the low cost we can create a lot of these and let them run over a long period of time.
Surely the trip to collect the thing after it passes out the minefield is an issue, it could take days to retrieve.
Re: Low-cost Solution to Clearing Afghan Landmines
#100Earlier quoted context omitted.
Truly random paths would give you the 97.8% probability that there are no mines left, over a course of N field traversals. Obviously, that ain't good enough.
but because of the low cost we can create a lot of these and let them run over a long period of time.
Surely the trip to collect the thing after it passes out the minefield is an issue, it could take days to retrieve.