NIITEK launches portable robotic ultra-wide band GPR mine detection system at DSEi 09

NIITEK, the world leader in vehicle integrated mine detection systems, is launching VISOR MINI-HMDS at DSEi, a portable variant of the Husky-Mounted Detection System (HMDS).

VISOR utilizes NIITEK’s breakthrough ultra-wide band (UWB) Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), first deployed last year by the US Army in support of the Overseas Contingency Operations. 

A full-scale model of the VISOR MINI-HMDS mounted to a TALON-class robot will be displayed on the Chemring stand (no. 364) at DSEi, 8-11 September, London.

The VISOR MINI-HMDS is a remote-controlled detection system for path clearance, small area identification, EOD spot inspection and remote 3D subsurface visualisation. It can be transported on a light patrol vehicle and deployed to clear routes through mined terrain and narrow roads inaccessible to the HMDS.

It is approximately a tenth of the size of the `truck sized` HMDS and measures 87” length and 28” wide. The detection system and robot each weigh approximately 60lbs and therefore can easily be carried.

“We understood the need to provide a system that takes the person out of harms’ way, which can “see” into the ground and is not restricted by terrain.

It meets the needs of anyone driving a vehicle across mined terrain, whether for peacekeeping, relief or military operations,” says Terry Marsh, Vice President, Business Development, NIITEK, a Chemring Group company.

The VISOR MINI-HMDS uses NIITEK’s breakthrough ultra-wide band Ground Penetrating Radar sensor technology developed with the US Army RDECOM CERDEC, Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate -Countermine Division, which detects metallic and non-metallic mines with vastly improved high probability detection rates and low false alarm rates that have won the technology a high confidence rating from countermine operators.

The VISOR MINI-HMDS combines GPR with an advanced metal detector to provide a secondary means of verification resulting in unprecedented performance for automatic detection, recognition and precision marking of buried anti-personnel and anti-tank mines. 

The detection system has several components, which include NIITEK’s proprietary UWB GPR sensor technology, sophisticated automatic target recognition (ATR) algorithms, automatic marking and an innovative automatic ground tracking and damage control carrier bracket. These are all monitored and controlled by a user-friendly graphical touch-screen that allows the operator to “see” under the ground.