Acoustic Landmine Detection: INTERFEROMETER-LESS PULSED LASER VIBROMETER FOR LANDMINE DETECTION

A light-weight, compact, high sensitivity pulsed laser vibrometer is proposed using photo-EMF sensors for the non-contact detection and mapping of buried landmines. The fast response times (~ ns) and high sensitivity of the photo-EMF sensors allow continuous and real-time monitoring of vibration characteristics of the ground and canopy based on which the presence and species of landmines can be determined with high precision and fast speed. The high sensitivity of the proposed pulsed laser vibrometer allows the deployment of low average-power laser sources and the reduction of collection optics sizes, leading to compact laser vibrometers that are easy to manipulate, power-conservative, and ideal for landmine detection onboard a vehicle or an aircraft. The interferometer-less feature of the photo-EMF pulsed laser vibrometer alleviates it from the stringent optical alignment and stabilization requirements faced by conventional optical interferometer-based apparatus and makes it ideal for applications in noisy environments like the battlefields. The feasibility of using the photo-EMF pulsed laser vibrometer to locate buried landmines will be demonstrated during the Phase I program, with the relevant signal processing algorithms also developed. A prototype pulsed laser vibrometer for landmine detection in battlefield environments will be developed during the Phase II research program.