[tylerkahn]

I watched the video twice and I can't figure out what the purpose of this is.

The copy on the website suggests it's a mine clearing device but it doesn't seem you can use these to methodically clear a tract of land in order to 'reclaim' it - the paths that these things take are subject to winds and the terrain. Also there's the issue of retrieving the device to repair it and then if you can't retrieve it, there's the issue of these things littering their debris everywhere.

Then at the end of the video he says that it's a tool for local peoples to "cheaply survey the danger in their own environment". This makes more sense. If rolling this thing over a piece of land causes a detonation then you know the area around the detonation is likely to contain more mines so you can avoid that area.

Maybe someone with more insight or a better understanding can chime in.

[tucosan]

Most of what the device is 'supposed' to be doing is quite clear from watching the video. But leaving the wind to decide which path to take and clear in a given environment won't allow the people in affected areas to solve the problem methodically. At least the iteration of the device presented on the website and in the video does not solve how it can be deliberately moved across a certain area, hauled back in and moved across a neighboring strip of affected land.

This looks more like an art project to me at the moment. I be believe a device fashioned in a similar vein could actually be quite helpful.