A ground-breaking solution
Nearly 80 years after WWII, detecting mines on a battlefield or in a field of daisies concealing the deadly explosives, has not become much easier. But Ernestas Žvaigždinas, co-founder of UAB Broswarm, a new generation of landmine detection using Drones, Sensor fusion and Machine Learning, has big news to share.
by Linas Jegelevičius
“We have found a potentially game-changing technology to detect mines with precision. Broswarm is developing a next-generation sensor that is primarily used to detect mines: data from the sensor attached to the drone and other sensors are then processed by artificial intelligence to accurately detect objects in the area under investigation.” Žvaigždinas told the Baltic Business Quarterly.
Until recently, even advanced demining techniques included electromagnetic methods, such as ground-penetrating radar used in combination with metal detectors, and acoustic methods. But even these can produce false positives or false negatives, leading to inefficiencies and potential danger.
Besides, some soils have a high mineral content that interferes with standard detection equipment. And do not dismiss the factor of rough terrain with steep inclines, ditches, and culverts, making it difficult and even dangerous for individual deminers or mechanical equipment to navigate!
That the technology by Broswarm is potentially ground-breaking demonstrates the acknowledgment from the NATO Innovation Challenge, an annual NATO-organised competition for defence industry innovators held in Vilnius this June.
After reviewing 51 entries from 13 countries (all of them presented their solutions to address Remote Explosive-Contaminated Area Recognition and Neutralisation, otherwise known as remote mine clearance operations), a panel of nine judges from NATO commands, the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence and subject matter experts, picked 11 finalists, including Broswarm.
And – hooray! – Broswarm has become the first Lithuanian company to win the NATO Innovation Challenge! Its technology, featuring unique sensors capable of detecting the shape of objects underground, earned not only the top spot and a cash prize but also possibly opened the gates to the tough defence sector. “Potentially, our clients – and big names – will soon be the military organisations and companies of Ukraine, Lithuania, USA and other NATO member states” E. Žvaigždinas says, admitting that, until now, the company did not make money – it relied on grants. “Until now, everything was self-funded with big help form VC ScaleWolf (a unique Vilnius-based defence venture capital fund featured in the edition of the BBQ – L.J.) and government initiatives,” he said. The startup has raised $100,000 in investment this year. No doubt, the Einsteins the company employs – one of the scientists at Broswarm has won an International Physics Olympiad and medals in an International Mathematical Olympiad – are behind the success it started seeing! Broswarm has already tested the technology in real-life conditions in Ukraine and the results are promising. Like many other defence sector companies, Broswarm was founded after Russia’s war in Ukraine began. “I’d say that too many defence companies were started that day. We kicked off our operation a year ago, when the world realised that landmines remain very impactful in a modern warfare,” E. Žvaigždinas said. Will Broswarm run out of business when the war in Ukraine ends? “No, not at all. A third of entire Ukraine is mine-contaminated. It will take 700 years to clean it. Most work needs to be done after the war is over. Let’s help Ukraine fight this war and everyone can participate on their own terms or skills, otherwise the war will come much closer to us,” E. Žvaigždinas warns.