Design of a training tool for improving the use of hand-held detectors in humanitarian demining

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to introduce the design of a training tool intended to improve deminers' technique during close-in detection tasks. Design/methodology/approach - Following an introduction that highlights the impact of mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and the importance of training for enhancing the safety and the efficiency of the deminers, this paper considers the utilization of a sensory tracking system to study the skill of the hand-held detector expert operators. With the compiled information, some critical performance variables can be extracted, assessed, and quantified, so that they can be used afterwards as reference values for the training task. In a second stage, the sensory tracking system is used for analysing the trainee skills. The experimentation phase aims to test the effectiveness of the elements that compose the sensory system to track the hand-held detector during the training sessions. Findings - The proposed training tool will be able to evaluate the deminers' efficiency during the scanning tasks and will provide important information for improving their competences. Originality/value - This paper highlights the need of introducing emerging technologies for enhancing the current training techniques for deminers and proposes a sensory tracking system that can be successfully utilised for evaluating trainees' performance with hand-held detectors. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.The authors acknowledge funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007‐2013 TIRAMISU) under Grant Agreement No. 284747 and partial funding under Robocity2030 S‐0505/DPI‐0176 and FORTUNA A1/039883/11 (Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo – AECID). Dr Roemi Fernández acknowledges support from CSIC under grant JAE‐DOC. Dr Héctor Montes acknowledges support from Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá and from CSIC under grant JAE‐DOC.Peer Reviewe