Innovation and technologies

FSD is involved in research and development projects that place new technologies at the service of mine action. Discover how drone and demining technologies, along with mechanical demining machines and other innovative tools, are helping to make operations more efficient.

Drones and machines supporting mine action

In the era of new technologies and innovation, demining is benefiting from increasingly advanced solutions. Drones can now be used to detect signs of explosive ordnance during surveys or to monitor remotely operated demining machines in action. In addition, mapping and detection tools are employed at every stage of demining operations.

Soil-preparation machines remove vegetation and some mines as they pass through areas where deminers previously had to cut the grass manually. Other, more conventional machines, such as excavators, are reinforced for use in clearing debris from damaged buildings contaminated with explosive remnants of war.

As part of its explosive ordnance risk education activities, FSD is currently testing the use of QR codes in villages and on signs marking contaminated areas, in order to deliver safety messages directly to local communities.

Projects tested in the field

These technologies, adapted for mine action, help to accelerate operations, even though they do not yet replace the expertise of a deminer and their detector. As a field organisation, FSD regularly collaborates with institutions and companies to test new equipment and develop innovative projects. In Switzerland, it works closely with the Urs Endress Foundation in Arlesheim and the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) to advance technological solutions in support of humanitarian demining.