DetonProof

DetonProof: Complex system for studying/validating technological processes for ammunition

(Phase I: August 2021 / December 2023)

  • Programme: PNRM (National Military Research Plan - Italian Ministry of Defence)
  • Coordinator: Agenzia Industrie Difesa (AID)
  • Consortium: 3 partners (IT)

Abstract

The DETONPROOF project is aimed at developing a complex technological demonstrator, consisting of infrastructures, analysis, control and command stations for the remote management of an operating system for the study, development, verification and validation of processes relating to energy products and materials, increasing the health and safety protection for operators engaged in quantitative analysis, disassembly/assembly of manufactured goods and war ammunition for demilitarization and/or integration purposes.

STANAG 4518 defines demilitarization as “the act of removing or otherwise nullifying the military potential of a munition. This action must be conducted in a safe, economical, practicable and environmentally responsible manner. Demilitarization is a necessary step for military components before their release into a non-military context.”

The types of ammunition to be treated are innumerable and have completely different characteristics from each other; the differences exist not only in size and weight, but also in the construction parts that compose them and which must be disassembled. Furthermore, since the explosive/combustible elements are also different, the procedures also differ.
Furthermore, since these are often dated systems, it is common for technical/construction data on the specific product to be unavailable.

At the moment the disassembly activity is performed automatically when the type of ammunition to be processed is high in number.
For the purposes of studying and defining the demilitarization process on specific artefacts or for activities where the ammunition to be processed has quantities that do not justify the development of an automatic line, the processes are carried out manually by operators, with great risks for their safety.
The creation of the "DETONPROOF" system ensures the protection of health and safety at work at the highest possible level by minimizing interactions between the operator and the artefact/energy material.

The processes of interest for such a system are:

  • Primary processes: those relating to the demilitarization of war munitions. This process is the responsibility of the Production Unit of the Agenzia Industrie Difesa “Stabilimento Militare Ripristini e Recuperi del Munizionamento”, located in Noceto (PR).
  • Secondary processes: those relating to the integration of war ammunition. This process is the responsibility of the Production Unit of the Agenzia Industrie Difesa "Stabilimento Militare Munizionamento Terrestre", located in Baiano di Spoleto (PG).

The DETONPROOF system involves the use of enabling technologies (KET) such as robotics, artificial intelligence and augmented reality to create a complex system called "DETONPROOF" suitable for the study, development and validation of technological demilitarization processes on energy artefacts. The system must be able to define technological processes suitable for the disassembly of different classes of energy products by performing operations on systems, sub-assemblies and components.
The System will be available to the Armed Forces, Police Forces, Judiciary and any other State Administration which, for its own purposes, needs to operate on explosive artefacts and energetic materials compatible with the characteristics and purposes for which the System is developed.

The technological demonstrator resulting from the research and innovation project may be engineered to create derivative systems constituting integral versions and/or specialized versions of the original technological demonstrator, suitable for use in the infrastructures and operational contexts of other military entities and may be marketing to third parties, institutional and/or industrial, including at an international level.

DETONPROOF represents, to the state of the proponents' knowledge, the first project aimed at integrating recent innovations in the aforementioned domains taking into consideration the needs and restrictive constraints of the DEMIL sector and in particular:

  • innovative robotic solutions suitable for operating in environments with potential explosion risk;
  • control systems based on "Artificial Intelligence" and "Machine Learning" with a high degree of reliability, in relation to the manipulation needs of different classes of energy products and their sub-assemblies/parts/components that can enable the definition of processes and procedures;
  • man-machine interaction systems capable of guaranteeing full control of operations carried out remotely in all operating conditions;
  • augmented reality systems that can provide the operator with relevant information to be able to carry out operations on the basis of pre-existing knowledge on similar artefacts/components.