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Brothers Massoud and Mahmud Hassani grew up in Kabul, Afghanistan, knowing that one wrong step could end their lives. “When we walked to school, we had a special path to follow—otherwise we would end up in a minefield,” Massoud says. Mines are cheap to manufacture and deploy, but slow and expensive to remove. An estimated 110 million land mines litter the globe, killing 15,000 to 20,000 people a year. Living among them “becomes like a mental disorder,” Massoud says. “The fear is on your mind all the time.”
After the Hassani family relocated to the Netherlands, the brothers created an anti-mine device based on a wind-powered tumbleweed toy they’d built as children. The Mine Kafon (kafon means “explode” in Dari) could roll through a minefield, detonating any mines it crossed and thus marking out a safe path. Though more conceptual than practical, it became a hit; New York’s Museum of Modern Art even bought one in 2012.
The Hassanis spent the next two years developing a tool they hope will have real-world impact: a mine-hunting drone. The autonomous copter performs a three-step process: It maps an area, detects mines, and then destroys them.
The brothers claim Mine Kafon Drones will clear mines 20 times faster than existing technologies. Removing a single mine by hand can cost $300 to $1,000; one Kafon costs about $1,100 and can cover a full minefield. The Hassanis hope to deploy thousands, potentially ridding the world of land mines within 10 years.
![Mine Kafon Drone at rest](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/18/NGOA6E6AP7RXX7CSKUCPE5UMNE.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
How it works
The Mine Kafon Drone operates in three phases, and it uses a separate robotic attachment for each one.
Mapper: Using a 3-D camera, GPS, and a computer, the drone maps the terrain, turning any given area into a precise grid.
Detector: Sensors and a retractable arm keep the metal detector 1.5 inches above the ground as it geotags mine locations.
Detonator: A gripper arm places a small, explosive detonator onto each mine. The drone then triggers the explosives remotely.
This article was originally published in the January/February 2017 issue of Popular Science, under the title “Zero-Casualty Mine Sweeping.”