great case study of why product design is very hard and requires deep understanding of the factors involved.
as others have pointed out:
- your goal is to clear an area, hence you need a systematic approach to be able to deem a strip of land safe. random paths do not help
- this identifies and detonates in one go. but if the mine does not get triggered, the identifier is lost. these are two separate tasks. merging them would only work with 100% detonation rate.
- this does not work against other types of explosives. anti-vehicle mines, unexploded ordnance, cluster ammo,...
the upside is definitely the low cost. the low effectiveness rate and unreliable pathing makes it lossy though. which with mines is not acceptable.
as others have pointed out:
- your goal is to clear an area, hence you need a systematic approach to be able to deem a strip of land safe. random paths do not help
- this identifies and detonates in one go. but if the mine does not get triggered, the identifier is lost. these are two separate tasks. merging them would only work with 100% detonation rate.
- this does not work against other types of explosives. anti-vehicle mines, unexploded ordnance, cluster ammo,...
the upside is definitely the low cost. the low effectiveness rate and unreliable pathing makes it lossy though. which with mines is not acceptable.