A team of scientists of the Moratuwa University led by Dr. Trishantha Nanayakkara has invented a robot, which it has named ‘MURALI’, to detect landmines under a project funded by the National Science Foundation. The robot is more reliable than the existing landmine detection systems and is capable of leading a colony of landmine detecting robots, Nilusha Hemasiri representative of the NSF told The Island yesterday (1).

The NSF funded the research programme on developing a low cost robot for humanitarian de-mining. The research has demonstrated that the typical commercially available metal detectors are unsuccessful in differentiating between metal debris and landmines. This has resulted in several false detections, she said.

The Moratuwa University Robot for Anti-Landmine Intelligence, ‘MURALI’ is more robust than the existing conventional landmine detection systems. "It possesses the ability to coordinate and lead a colony of robots for landmine detection in a given area. When MURLI detects a landmine, it has the capability to assume leadership over the other satellite robots and command them on how they should move to support the master, she said.

However, repeated tests have shown that MURALI, the robot, has been able to drastically minimize the false alarm rate leading to faster de-mining of affected areas.

"The NSF has recognized the urgent need for a safe and reliable method of de-mining. Therefore it funded this project at the University of Moratuwa," she said.

The team of scientists led by Dr. Trishantha Nanayakkara invented a fully independent, intelligent, eight-legged robot named MURALI. This special robot is designed to detect landmines in areas covered with vegetation. The unique aspect of this robot is that it has enabled the Lankan team of scientists to unveil a low cost and reliable method of landmine detection in war torn areas. This will in turn enable a quick and efficient means of resettling civilians hitherto displaced by the war.

The difference between MURALI and the other methods of landmine detection is that MURALI has the ability to access areas that are inaccessible by the other devices. Regular methods utilized in landmine detection are mechanical clearance and manual clearance, which are done with the support of both metal detectors and explosive-detection dogs - two methods involving high-risk operations. In addition, the use of foreign robots has been identified as a viable means of detecting landmines more efficiently with minimal risks to lives, Hemasiri said.

However, some of these devices cannot be used in environments with undergrowth of shrubs or with trees. Moreover, they are too costly. Therefore, the lack of cost effective and practical detection equipment in Sri Lanka has posed major challenges to humanitarian de-mining efforts undertaken by various individuals and organizations committed to finding long term solutions to this problem.

At present landmines pose a severe threat in the North and East. It is estimated that approximately 3.5 million landmines were discovered in the war torn areas of the country. The victims are mostly men, between the ages of 20 and 45 years.