Jevit the robot detects and removes landmines

SUMMARY: Richard Yim grew up in Phnom Penh Cambodia and always knew of the dangers of landmines, starting from the age of 8 when his aunt was killed in an accident. After moving to Canada at the age of 13 he noticed the lack of fear that was felt once the potential threat of landmines was removed from a lifestyle. Studying at Waterloo University, Yim started Demine Robotics with the goal of removing the threat of mines and unexploded ordinance from the earth. The group says that between 60 and 100 million landmines and unexploded ordinances are left around the globe. At the rate we're clearing those mines today it would take more than 270 years to have a landmine free world. Removing mines from soil is dangerous, expensive, and a slow process. Current demining machinery can occasionally move mines deeper into the ground, ignore unstable mines, or throw mines to the sides of the vehicle. Demine's solution is a robot named Jevit, designed to find and remove landmines. The group is running a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for its first round of robots.