Richard Yim started Demine Robotics with a vision to help others avoid the fate of his aunt, who died more than a decade ago after stepping on a landmine when he was a child in Cambodia. Since 1979 more than 64,000 casualties have been caused by landmines in Yim's home country. His company's mine clearance machine, Jevit, is designed to safely eradicate landmines remotely with minimal human exposure.
“This is for the country, this is for the world, this is for those countries that still have landmines and the thousands of people who suffer because of landmines and the millions more who are restricted of land and denied the ability to take part in agricultural activities because of landmines,” Yim said.
Drawing on his technical expertise, Yim created two machines to enter the demining process in place of humans. One is designed with arms that plunge under a mine to lift it out of the ground, uncovering the detonator for the second machine, which pinches and disables the trigger before slicing into the mine and melting the explosive material inside.