A robot that has the technical capability to safely defuse landmines without causing an explosion recently received $25,000 in start-up money from the Velocity Fund at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Richard Yim, a mechanical engineering student and CEO of Landmine Boys, said in an interview on the university’s website, that he was born in Cambodia and spent the first 13 years of his life being warned about where he should play due to the fear and danger of landmines.
While easy and cheap to make, landmines are expensive and dangerous to remove, said Yim.
“Our robot will eliminate risk to human operators by allowing them to run it from a safe distance … We will also defuse landmines without exploding them to prevent any damage to local infrastructure and farmland.”
Along with four other mechanical engineering students, Yim has already travelled to Cambodia to test their prototype on a dummy landmine. Before the end of the year, they plan to build a second prototype that will be tested on an active landmine with TNT.
Please click here for full details on the CBC website.
