Lahiru Jayatilaka at SEAS demostrating. Pic via Justin Ide/Harvard
Researchers and scientists based out of the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have created a way to use a metal detector to create and image of what may be buried underground, in particular, landmines. The system, called the Pattern Enhancement Tool for Assisting Landmine Sensing (PETALS), pairs a metal detector with a smartphone. Currently de-miners, ones who locate the explosives, use a metal detector and mentally visualize what the beeps are sensing. In other words, "experts" know what a landmine sounds like. What happens is a metal can may be detected, and a lot of time is spend digging such false alarms up. SEAS researcher Lahiru Jayatilaka explains the issue, "Using only audio signals is a huge source of inefficiency. The operator has to figure out whether it is harmful or not harmful."
As PETALS scans the ground, it creates an augmented reality like image outline of red dots around the shape of the object. From there, it makes mine detection far easier. In initial tests, novice de-miners improved their accuracy by up to 80% using PETALS. Jayatilka states that the visual aid with steadily improve the de-miner's ability in reorganization and understanding the principles behind detection.
Object outline example from the PETALS website.
PETALS was a joint project from Jayatilka with computer scientist Krysztof Gajos at SEAS, in conjunction with Luca Bertuccelli of MIT, and James Staszewski of Carnegie Mellon University. See more at their new PETALS website.
Eavesdropper
