Synthetic Aperture Radar
A life-saving technology
Unmanned Airborne Mine Detection
Innovative Ground-Penetrating
Important update
The journey to develop a market-ready system for our first pilot customers was both challenging and ambitious. The project required exceptional dedication and intensive effort from the entire team due to its complexity and innovation depth. While some schedule adjustments were necessary along the way, we successfully maintained our target of bringing the solution to market in the second half of 2026.
The team demonstrated remarkable commitment and resilience throughout the development process, achieving numerous milestones, overcoming significant challenges, and consistently driving the project forward.
Our new FM-GPSAR system
We offer a fully integrated solution that combines all key hardware and software components. The in-house developed FM-GPSAR UAV and the new FM-EPOS software platform work seamlessly together, providing an efficient and user-friendly solution for UAV-based ground-penetrating SAR surveys.
Designed for scalable production, the system supports medium-volume manufacturing with competitive delivery times.
Its integrated auto-detection capability minimizes training requirements and simplifies operation.
Advanced radar technology enables higher-altitude flights while maintaining excellent detection performance, delivering greater area coverage, faster missions, and higher productivity.
Motivation
Millions of mines and unexploded ordnance remain in the ground in many regions of the world. They endanger peopleʼs lives, block fields, destroy infrastructure, and prevent economic recovery – often decades after a war.
findmine is dedicated to transforming research findings into practical mine detection products using Ground-Penetrating Synthetic Aperture Radar (GPSAR) and metal detectors supported by Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).
Anti-personnel mines are banned under international law by the Ottawa Convention, but major countries such as the USA, Russia and China have not yet ratified the ban. In recent years, the quality and quantity of contamination with mines and unexploded ordnance has unfortunately continued to worsen and multiply due to new conflicts.
New technologies offer hope: Sensor technology, Unmanned Aircraft Systems, and intelligent data analysis can make mine detection faster, safer, and more affordable. However, because these methods offer little profit, no investment is being made in genuine innovation for these purposes.
The Urs Endress Foundation wants to change this – with targeted funding and the establishment of findmine, a startup founded in 2022. There, the latest sensor technology is being developed with autonomous flight systems for humanitarian mine detection.
All revenue from our GPSAR products is used to fund further development. The foundation continues to support new projects for humanitarian demining such as the metal detector and LSCAN. No profits are returned to the foundation.
Urs Endress
President of Urs Endress Foundation
and stakeholder of findmine
For reconstruction, not for battle
New mine detection technologies are also of interest to military actors. However, their objectives differ fundamentally from those of humanitarian mine action. findmine develops sensor-based systems specifically for civilian and humanitarian use. Our approach is aligned with the principles of the humanitarian-development-peace nexus: Mine Action and the Triple Nexus by Markus Schindler (FSD).
The findmine solutions are designed for use in post-conflict areas – robust, affordable, and globally applicable. Cooperation with military or industrial partners is possible if it serves humanitarian objectives and includes clear safeguards against misuse. Any collaboration with actors involved in the production or use of anti-personnel mines is categorically excluded.
Why innovation is so difficult
Humanitarian mine clearance is underfunded. International standards often rely on outdated technical solutions, making innovation difficult. New technologies carry risks and require field testing, which is costly and time-consuming. Realistic testing is only possible where people still live with mines and unexploded ordnance, often in hard-to-reach and hazardous regions.
findmine works closely with the Swiss organization Fondation Suisse de Déminage (FSD) on field tests – for safe, practical testing under real-world conditions.
Goal and ethics
Since 2015, the Urs Endress Foundation has funded research projects at leading academic institutions in Germany and Switzerland – including ETH Zurich and universities of applied science in Ulm and Stuttgart.
The Foundation operates on a non-profit basis. Its goal: to develop effective, affordable, and groundbreaking technologies to clear mines and unexploded ordnance faster and more safely – where conventional methods alone are inadequate now.
Humanitarian mine detection remains a global, ongoing challenge. Unmanned Aircraft Systems and robots in wars are creating greater demand than ever before. findmine provides the technology needed for this. For more information see the Funding section.
The development of a groundbreaking new sensor concept can take up to 10 years. The Urs Endress Foundation enables findmine to continuously and purposefully pursue a promising approach through to product development. Our work is not constrained by three-year research project cycles, and we use our resources to solve technological problems, not to acquire funding.
Cooperation with military or industrial partners is possible if it serves humanitarian objectives and includes clear safeguards against misuse. Any collaboration with actors involved in the production or use of anti-personnel mines is categorically excluded.
"Our technology is only successful if it has an impact
– in the field, not in the lab."
Dr. Winfried Mayer CEO of findmine
Dr. Winfried Mayer is a radar and sensor specialist with decades of experience in technology development for industry. Since 2022, he has headed findmine and is responsible for translating research results into market-ready, non-profit products. He regularly presents the findmine technology internationally, engaging with potential partners and customers at conferences and at field test events, for example in Croatia, Switzerland, and Ukraine.
What has been achieved so far
Organisation and network
findmine was established as a non-profit organization in 2022 with a small expert team and headquarters in southern Germany, near Ulm. The network includes partner organizations, researchers, field experts, and international users.
In 2026 findmine changed its legal structure to lay the foundation for sustainable growth.
Development of a GPSAR system, ready for pilot customers
The prototyping GPSAR systems were not suitable for commercialization.
The main limitations were obsolete hardware building blocks, the discontinuation of the UAV platform, and technical constraints that prevented the implementation of important improvements identified during testing.
To overcome these challenges, findmine started the development of a completely new hardware platform in 2025. Throughout 2025 and 2026, the new components were integrated with redesigned software. By the end of summer 2026, the new findmine GPSAR system had reached a level of maturity that makes it ready for deployment with pilot customers.
Set up of fabrication facilities
In February 2026, findmine moved to a new facility in Vöhringen and established the capabilities needed to produce the new GPSAR system in small quantities of up to 50 units per year. The new site includes a test lab, workshop, and storage area. In addition, production processes were improved through the introduction of specialized tools and stronger cooperation with suppliers.
New facility since February 2026
Tests under real conditions
Field trials took place in Germany, Croatia, Portugal, and Ukraine in cooperation with international partners – including the German and Swiss Armed Forces, the Swiss NGO FSD, and Croatiaʼs center for mine action evaluation and training (CTRO). For these deployments, dedicated test fields were set up, training sessions conducted, and blind validations carried out. Multiple independent trials have impressively confirmed the groundbreaking potential of findmineʼs technology.
Tests at CTRO in 2024 on realistic objects
Training and tests in Ukraine in 2025 in collaboration with FSD
Applied expertise and field engagement
With its growing presence in the global mine action community, findmine contributes to specialist conferences and collaborates with key stakeholders in countries affected by landmine contamination. Through close collaboration with the Swiss NGO FSD, the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), and potential pilot users, findmine demonstrates not only technical readiness but also alignment with urgent field needs.
These partnerships reflect a clear demand: the humanitarian sector is looking for new, scalable sensor solutions – and findmine is working to deliver them.
Timeline
What's new
Current developments
Ongoing and new armed conflicts are contaminating ever more areas with explosive remnants of war. These include mines, unexploded ordnance, improvised explosive devices, and crashed combat drones from modern wars. Our application-ready GPSAR systems can make a significant contribution to mitigating these hazards and are already attracting interest for purchase and testing. As sales revenues will help accelerate and intensify our development efforts, we have changed our legal structure to a GmbH. We remain committed to our mission of making humanitarian mine detection faster, more affordable, and safer, with the Urs Endress Foundation continuing as our shareholder and supporter.