Our solutions

Meeting the needs of deminers: that has been the goal of the Digger Foundation from the very beginning. All our innovations have been inspired by the people in the field; they are the ones risking their lives. In our research and development, we continually strive to adapt our technology to the specific requirements of each demining operation, thereby enabling our partners to face new challenges. We closely monitor the operations in which they are engaged and provide a very long term after-sales service support.

We believe that new technologies and industrial know-how can and should be used to solve serious problems such as anti-personnel mines that permanently affect the lives of thousands of people.

As a non-profit organisation, the Digger Foundation repeatedly raises funds from public and private institutional donors to enable the development of new projects using its technologies.

This is the latest type of demining machine designed and built in Switzerland by the Digger Foundation. This 12-tonne tracked machine, armoured and equipped with a sophisticated mine-clearing tiller at the front, ploughs through the ground at high speed. It destroys anti-personnel mines by crushing or detonating them. The DIGGER D-250 is remote-controlled, so that their pilots can remain at a distance, guaranteeing their safety.

Depending on the situation, this machine can clear between 300 and 1,800 square metres per hour, compared to a human deminer who can only clear 5 to 20 square metres per day! In over two decades, the Foundation has not had a single demining accident.

From 2010 onwards, a horrific spectacle has been making the headlines: in the Middle East and North Africa, and now in Ukraine, entire cities have been bombed and completely destroyed. The ruins contain unexploded ordnance or home-made bombs, making it impossible to start clearance and rebuilding for the long term. To respond to this challenge, the Digger Foundation has developed a remote control system for construction machines (excavators, bulldozers, loaders, dumpers, etc.) and given it the name SCRAPER.

Thanks to a virtual reality helmet, the pilot is immersed in his machine and can control it from a safe distance.

In collaboration with the GICHD (Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining) and the NGO World Without Mines, the Digger Foundation has developed the SMART harness for sniffer dogs to assist deminers in the detection of mines. The harness contains an electronic system that allows the handler to communicate with the dog, tracking and guiding its movements from a distance. This system improves the efficiency and reliability of preliminary demining surveys by eliminating the need for the dog to be on a lead, which also drastically reduces the risks involved.

It is currently being used successfully in Cambodia and South Sudan.