A new approach to detecting vegetation-obscured tripwires

Tripwire-operated fragmentation mines can be a significant hazard for deminers, especially during vegetation clearance. Several different technologies including thermal, acoustic, and electromagnetic have been evaluated as possible candidates for use in a reliable long- range detector which can find tripwires completely obscured by vegetation. An acoustic method has been proposed to detect non-metallic tripwires. The results of some experimental measurements using this approach are presented. Taut, non-metallic wires can be stimulated acoustically so as to generate a characteristic frequency component which may enable detection.