One of the most important aspects of our project has been the fact that we have been working hand in hand with the Landmine Disarming group. Each group needs the other in order to be successful; if we can’t detect the landmines, then they can’t disarm them, and if they can’t disarm them, then there’s little use in us detecting them. Because of the necessity of our relationship (and the fact that we’re all pretty nice and friendly people), we’ve all grown close to one another and are excited to present our projects as one big, happy, anti-landmine-family.
At the center of our display will be a large stand that includes information from both projects, and to the left and right both groups will have two individual stands that explain their personal projects. The shared stand will consist of three cylindrical pentagons of different sizes, which will amplify the amount of information we can display and will allow people to walk around to see from each angle.
The front side of the stand will have small, acrylic, representations of people with LED lights below them. On the ground below the stand will be fake sand and terrain that is meant to simulate the environment in Syria. Pressure sensors will be underneath the sand and guests will be given a stick to poke through the sand, essentially simulating the current most common tactic of landmine detection. Once a pressure sensor is triggered the LED lights below the acrylic figures will light up, notifying the guest that a landmine has gone off and another life has been lost.
From left to right: personal stand 2, personal stand 1, shared stand
Our two personal stands will also be in the shapes of cylindrical pentagons and will display specific information to our project. Our first stand will have a series of shelves inside of it; the first shelf will contain Tinkerbell, the second shelf will contain more fake sand and terrain, and the third shelf will contain a variety of mock land mines. The second stand will be slightly different and will contain no shelves. Four of the faces of the pentagon will contain information on the four different types of radar that we used during our project. The fifth face will have a touch screen computer displaying our Timeline JS, which will enable our guests to learn how our project developed week by week.
By providing our guests with an interactive experience that simulates how landmines are currently being detected our hope is to create the feel of a real-life scenario that will prompt a resounding impact and hit closer to home. The design of our presentation is both innovative and interactive, and there is no doubt that after seeing our presentations our guests will leave informed about the dangers of landmines in Syria.
The squad hard at work
Authors:
Hope Ucciardi & Patrick Murphy