But some are.

You get most or nearly all proper functioning mines, but can’t guarantee that, and stuck or malfunctioning ones linger and still need to be otherwise cleared. Clearing rapidly for combat operations has acceptable risks that later children playing or farming won’t accept.

What any of these do is reduce the active mine density a lot. That helps reduce the risk to the eventual manual deminer teams, at least in terms of number of clearings they have to effect.

Isn’t that part of the point — these are supposed to be cheap and disposable, compared to existing technology (costing $1200 — yeah, Euros vs dollars, whatevs)? So cheap that failures can be ignored, just send out another?

Fast, cheap, and out of control: because control is not needed.

And again — you simultaneously complain that this cheap thing will either be stuck, or not stuck. They can’t BOTH be a problem.

I don’t think either one is: if it rolls out, roll it back on through. If the wind stops the thing in the middle of the minefield, WAIT FOR MORE WIND. We haven’t even hit peak-wind yet, and the industry is constantly finding new sources….

“Ahem. This is my device. I am not an engineer, so I don’t know how good this is. There have been no double-blind studies of its effectiveness. Due to the irregularity of the power source, it could be completely useless. It is only right that I tell you it could be a complete waste of your time. That’s why I’ve come to you for your support.”

If they get good enough, they could disassemble the mines and photograph all the manufacturer logos so we know who to boycott!

Paint it rainbow colors! KATAMARI DAMACY!

Mine-clearing Line Charges (MLCLs) have a long history of highly effective usage. Unless a mine is specifically designed to resist both sympathetic detonation and shock-based fuze triggering (which is rare), you’ve got a quick and relatively easy solution.

The major obstacles aren’t technological – they’re societal. People would rather put their efforts into building new weapons to use on one another than into saving innocent lives from the weapons of wars long over. The current MLCL systems could be a lot cheaper and less bulky, but they’re based on outdated technology and there’s little pressure to update the designs. It’s a lot easier to get the money and resources to kill people than it is to save them.

If somehow he could build an Arduino-powered guidance system in to it, controlling a sail or something, maybe he could make it more like a Roomba for landmines….