Cory Stephanson, president and CEO of Broadband Discovery Systems, Inc., launches a small quadrotor platform as Dr. Rosemarie Oelrich, scientist, Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock, uses a handheld Android device to monitor data during the Ship-to-Shore Maneuver Exploration and Experimentation (S2ME2) Advanced Naval Technology Exercise (ANTX) 2017 at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, CA. Image credit: U.S. Navy photo by John F. Williams/Released

Scientists have unveiled a new device capable of detecting buried and submerged mines from a safe distance.

Called the Mine Warfare Rapid Assessment Capability (MIW RAC) system, the device is a one-pound quadcopter equipped with an ultrasensitive magnetometer sensor system capable of detecting mines and providing real-time feedback to handheld Android devices.

"This technology will help Sailors and Marines who are approaching a beachfront to rapidly clear, or at least determine the location of, mines or other hazards that are in their way," said Office of Naval Research Command Master Chief Matt Matteson. "It could potentially save a lot of lives."

The remote controlled system can quickly locate buried or underwater mines and other dangerous metal obstacles around coastlines and shallow waters.

"Everyone wants to know where they are going and what they are about to get into," said Dr. Rosemarie Oelrich, a scientist at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Carderock's Combatant Craft Division who is overseeing the development of MIW RAC. "It helps to have a rapid capability to just fly something in the air and survey an area before you put troops on the ground or bring a vessel ashore."

Although the quadcopter and tablet are both commercially available, the core part of MIW RAC: the magnetometer sensor system—with its long-range detection and use of algorithms to distinguish between different objects—is not yet available.