MINEFIELDS.INFO APP

in cooperation with Croatian Mine Action Center

Problems of tradition WARNINGS SIGNS (panel, fence etc)

• it is not possible to cover the whole area (there is not enough signs). Regardless of the number of panels and how they are placed, people still enter the minefield for lack of attention (foresters, tourists, hunters, mushroom pickers etc)
• that they can be stolen because panels are made from metal
• they can be broken (wind can collapse/brake it)
• big expense for people who will visit and check the table are stealing from metal Croatian

One of the big problems is when a man entered the minefield, figuring where he is and calling for help services, it is difficult to locate the location user because it is an inaccessible field. And then the rescuers must face the dangers of locating the users

21st century SOLUTION

In cooperation with the Croatian Mine Action Center, we have come up with the idea of solving the problem of mine suspected areas in the 21st century.

1. We've created and created the minefields.info app for smartphones running on Android and iPhone (iOS) operating systems.
2. WARNINGS SIGNALS: The application warns the user if she approaches the mine suspected area, using audio, visual (on the screen of the phone), and mechanical (vibration) warnings.
3. We've created a system that is set up on the server and loads maps of mine suspect areas that are, of course, in digital form.
4. A mobile application stores all maps locally in the phone, so it can work offline without internet connection.
5. The mobile application connects to the server when it is started and checks for any changes on the card (update process). How many applications changed to update your phone data.

WARNINGS SIGNALS (3 types)

1. At distances less than 50 meters from the mine suspected area, the application will notify the user of approaching the mine suspected area (polite warning signals, not to loud)
2. At distance of less than 10 meters the application informs the user that he is on the edge of the mine suspected area (warning signals are louder, and more frequent)
3. If the user accidentally enters the mine suspected area of the application he informs him that he entered the mine suspected area. In case the application calculates its exact coordinates, it sends them to the competent service (ex. Police) via SMS and simultaneously establishes an audio call to the competent service. Thus, the competent service knows the exact location of the user and may be targeted to the rescuers.

There are some specific areas where it is not necessary to display warning notices. Example, the highway where the user is separated from the mining area by fence. There are a few places in the Republic of Croatia where there are minus suspicious spaces at less than 50m away from the highway but are separated by a fence and marked in the system not to display the notices.

REPORT AN UNKNOWN DEVICE

Walking through the woods people often encounter some objects suspected of being explosive attacks. A nd there is a problem with how to contact the office and the competent services to tell the exact position.

The application itself has the ability to report an unknown resource where a user can picture an unknown subject, write a description of the subject and location, and the application in the background calculates the exact position of the subject and sends it to the competent service.

There is no internet access in many users, the application will record and send it when the Internet connection appears.

The competent service (police) has access to the web site where it applies with its username and password. In the web interface, you can see all of the applications that users have reported to the exact location on the map and, according to the assessment report, they can send the competent service to sanitize the terrain. Similarly, web sites send an email notification to the competent service that a new unknown item has been reported.

This option is very useful in urban environments where improvised explosive drinks appear. The user can easily report the device to the competent service with the correct location, and the deminers can shorten it in no time for someone to get caught.

EDUCATION

In the application there is a list of the most common mines and other explosive devices that can be found in nature on the territory of the Republic of Croatia. In this way, it seeks to further educate people about the dangers that may come to nature.

Education is not designed to frighten people, but only to be quietly educated about possible dangers, because there are enough explosive devices that can be replaced by common objects. Example is an Italian hand grenade "Breda" from the Second World War that in nature could look like a discarded filter for oil.

The minefields.info application is designed as a global warning application for mine suspected areas.

Goal for this year is implementation of minefield.info application in more than 50 countries (but priority will have states/countries which representatives are here on International Symposium MINE ACTION 2018)