Demining Research Community

What Demining Research Community does

The Demining Research Community (DE-MINE) is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit founded in 2020 at Binghamton University by members of the Geophysics and Remote Sensing Lab. Its mission is to bridge academic research and humanitarian practice in landmine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) detection through open-source benchmarks, multimodal datasets, and field-deployed tools. The organization targets humanitarian demining NGOs, academic researchers studying remote sensing and machine learning, and policymakers who fund mine-action programs.

The organization's technical portfolio spans computer vision, multimodal remote sensing, robotics, and geospatial AI. Core products include the world's first fielded drone-based AI antipersonnel mine detection model (in development since 2016; credited with detecting over 50,000 landmines and UXO at 92% accuracy), the MineMarker drone attachment for physical hazard marking (fielded with NGOs in Ukraine), and the Snakebot demining robot. The Seeded Minefield in Pawnee, Oklahoma — 150 inert ERW buried at systematically varied depths, operated with the OSU Global Consortium — functions as a unique standardized benchmark test site. Underpinning this are 34+ open-source datasets spanning nine sensor modalities (RGB, thermal, multispectral, hyperspectral, LiDAR, SAR, magnetometry, EMI, GPR) published freely on Zenodo, an interactive web map, and 14 peer-reviewed publications.

Commercially, the organization is non-commercial by design: all datasets, software, and hardware designs are released openly, with revenue coming only from donations via a PayPal link on its website and likely modest academic grants. Operations span the United States and Ukraine, with multi-institutional collaborations across five universities (Binghamton, Oklahoma State, University of San Diego, University of Maryland, Rochester Institute of Technology), one commercial partner (SPH Engineering), and board representation from ICRC and GICHD.

Name

Demining Research Community

Legal name

Demining Research Community

Website

https://de-mine.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Demining Research Community is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2020 that develops open-source AI, multimodal remote sensing, and robotic tools for humanitarian landmine and UXO detection, serving academic researchers and demining NGOs through standardized benchmarks and freely published datasets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Humanitarian Mine Action Research

NAICS

Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (541360), Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (54136), Remediation Services (562910)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Testing Laboratories (8734)

akta.pro primary industry

Mine Action & Explosive Ordnance Risk Reduction (EOD/ERW) (BPADAFAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Mine Action & Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) (BPADADAM), Demilitarization, Disposal & Ordnance Remediation (EOD Support) (IMABAHAM), Site Assessment & Remedial Investigation (Phase II/III, Sampling & Characterization) (EUAIALAA)

Keywords

• Humanitarian mine action
• Landmine detection research
• Remote sensing datasets
• Explosive ordnance detection
• Open-source benchmarks

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: As a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization, the Demining Research Community relies on donations from researchers, engineers, demining organizations, and donors. The website provides a PayPal donation link for supporters.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Demining Research Community is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that develops open-source research infrastructure for humanitarian landmine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) detection. Its core deliverables include multi-modal sensor datasets (RGB, thermal, hyperspectral, LiDAR, SAR, magnetometry, EMI, GPR), a standardized seeded test minefield with 150 inert ERW, the world's first fielded drone-based AI landmine detection model, and the MineMarker drone-attached marking system. All research outputs and datasets are published openly for the global mine action community.

Product overview

The Demining Research Community is a humanitarian nonprofit offering a suite of open research infrastructure products rather than a unified commercial software platform. Its core offerings include: (1) the Seeded Minefield — a standardized 150-item benchmark test site in Pawnee, Oklahoma, operated with the OSU Global Consortium for Explosive Hazard Mitigation; (2) the Drone-Based AI Landmine Detection Model — the world's first fielded drone-based deep learning model for PFM-1 Butterfly mine detection, responsible for detecting 50,000+ landmines and ERW; (3) the MineMarker — a drone-dropped marking hardware product; (4) the Snakebot — a remote-controlled demining robot for vegetated terrain; (5) 34+ Open-Source Multimodal Datasets (RGB, thermal, multispectral, hyperspectral, LiDAR, SAR, magnetometry, EMI, GPR) published freely on Zenodo; (6) an Interactive Web Map for spatial dataset exploration; and (7) the False-Positive Disambiguation Framework. All research outputs are published openly as peer-reviewed publications.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Seeded Minefield Standardized benchmark test site in Pawnee, Oklahoma comprising 150 inert explosive remnants of war (ERW) buried at systematically varied depths, used for rigorous reproducible testing and comparison of remote-sensing methods for landmine and UXO detection. Operated in partnership with the OSU Global Consortium for Explosive Hazard Mitigation.
• Open-Source Multimodal Datasets 34+ open-source datasets spanning UAV RGB imagery, multispectral, thermal infrared, hyperspectral, LiDAR, SAR, magnetometry, EMI metal detector, and GPR modalities collected across three field seasons at the Seeded Minefield. All published freely on Zenodo for community benchmark use.
• Drone-Based AI Landmine Detection Model World's first drone-based AI landmine detection model using deep neural networks to automatically detect PFM-1 Butterfly mines from commercial drone-collected visual and thermal imagery. Fielded and responsible for detecting over 50,000 landmines and pieces of explosive ordnance.
• MineMarker Drone attachment that dispenses brightly colored flags to physically mark the location of mines and UXO from above, improving situational awareness and safety of demining personnel. Fielded in Ukraine by NGOs. 3D printer-friendly design available upon request.
• Snakebot Remote-controlled demining robot designed to navigate dense vegetation and detect metallic ordnance, removing humans from the most hazardous clearance step.
• Interactive Web Map Interactive web map (powered by Leaflet) for exploring multi-modal seeded field datasets spatially. Allows toggling between fields and sensor layers, with AI-interpreted detection confidence (AIU index) overlaid on aerial orthomosaics.
• False-Positive Disambiguation Framework False-positive-centric framework for object detection disambiguation — a novel approach to reducing the overwhelming false-positive rates that plague landmine detection systems, published as peer-reviewed research.
• Field Testing Service Organizations with remote-sensing technologies to test can apply for field testing access at the Seeded Minefield. Technologies tested contribute to the community benchmark dataset.

Quantifiable outcome

• 50,000+ landmines and UXO detected using drone-based AI model
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• OSU Global Consortium for Explosive Hazard MitigationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Operational partnership for the Seeded Minefield research infrastructure located in Pawnee, Oklahoma. The OSU Institute for Global Explosive Hazard Mitigation provides the test site and institutional support, enabling standardized benchmark testing of remote sensing methods for landmine and UXO detection. The partnership involves joint data collection across multiple field seasons.
• Binghamton University Geophysics and Remote Sensing LabcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Founding institution and ongoing academic partner. The Demining Research Community was founded in 2020 by members of Binghamton University's Geophysics and Remote Sensing Lab. The lab provides research expertise in remote sensing, geophysics, and related fields, contributing to the interdisciplinary team foundation.
• University of San DiegominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic research collaboration involving graduate students in Applied Artificial Intelligence. Students including Kyle Dewey, Joel Anderson, and Joel Armstrong contribute to research projects as part of their graduate studies.
• Oklahoma State UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMulti-institutional data collection partner. Oklahoma State University's School of Forensic Sciences and Institute for Global Explosive Hazard Mitigation contribute to field research and dataset collection at the Seeded Minefield.
• University of MarylandminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner contributing PhD research through the Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics. PhD candidate Heidi Myers contributes to research programs.
• Rochester Institute of TechnologyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner with PhD researcher Sagar Lekhak contributing to remote sensing and hyperspectral imaging research. Co-author on UAV-based VNIR hyperspectral benchmark dataset publication.
• International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBoard member Martin Jebens serves as Weapon Contamination Specialist at ICRC, leading R&D projects assessing how airborne remote sensing and AI can improve detection capabilities after war and conflict.
• Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBoard member Namrita Singh serves as Programme Officer at GICHD. The organization supports mine action programs globally and the DRC has presented at GICHD/UNMAS technology workshops.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC): The world's largest humanitarian organization, with active weapons contamination programs. Comparable as a DRC board member institution and a key downstream consumer of mine detection research and policy guidance.
• Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD): The multilateral center of excellence for humanitarian mine action. Comparable as a knowledge and standards body in the same space; a current DRC board member sits within GICHD, reflecting deep ecosystem overlap.
• Norwegian People's Aid: International humanitarian organization running one of the largest humanitarian demining programs worldwide. Comparable as a potential deployment partner and end-user of advanced detection technologies in countries like Ukraine, Cambodia, and Laos.
• Mines Advisory Group (MAG): Major humanitarian demining NGO operating in over 30 countries. Comparable as a primary mission-aligned end-user of AI and remote sensing detection technology, and a potential field deployment partner for the DRC's outputs.

Broad incumbents

• HALO Trust: The world's largest humanitarian demining NGO, operating across 30+ countries. Comparable as a primary consumer of remote sensing and detection technology improvements in humanitarian mine action, and a natural end-user for the DRC's research outputs.

Emerging players

• APOPO: Innovative humanitarian demining organization using trained detection rats (HeroRATs) alongside conventional methods. Comparable in technology-driven, mission-led approach to humanitarian mine action and active in similar geographies (Cambodia, Angola, Mozambique).
• Fenix Insight: Commercial developer of advanced metal detection and ground-penetrating radar technologies for humanitarian demining and security applications. Comparable as a commercial R&D player bringing new sensor innovations into the mine action market.
• Digger DTR: Commercial developer of mechanized and remote-controlled demining machinery, including protected excavators and robotic systems. Comparable as a hardware/robotics peer in the humanitarian and commercial demining equipment market.

Direct peers

• Safe Pro AI: Commercial counterpart co-founded and led by the same co-founders (Jasper Baur and Gabriel Steinberg). Offers SpotlightAI, a drone-based imagery analysis and mapping product that has detected 43,000+ landmines and mapped 30,000+ acres in Ukraine — directly extending the DRC's research into commercial deployment.
• Zonge International: Geophysical surveying and consulting firm providing electromagnetic, magnetometry, and GPR survey services for environmental and infrastructure projects. Directly comparable to the DRC's geophysical methodology and sensor modality stack.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/demining-research-community

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Demining Research Community