LANDMINE LOCATING SYSTEM
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A landmine detecting and locating system, comprising:
- a ground-penetrating radar for emitting radio signals into the surface of the ground, and for receiving any returned signals;
a navigation system attached to the ground-penetrating radar and providing for a series of position fixes that indicate ground locations visited by the ground-penetrating radar;
a processor connected to the navigation system for mapping said ground locations visited onto a search grid, and connected to the ground-penetrating radar for evaluating said returned signals as indicating the presence of a buried a landmine; and
a graphic display having a visual representation of said ground locations visited superimposed on a visual representation of said search grid, and providing for navigation guidance of a user to sweep the ground-penetrating radar across locations in said search grid that are not yet visited and evaluated for the presence of landmines.
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Abstract
A landmine detection system comprises a ground-penetrating radar for probing the surface of the ground for landmines and other anomalies. The radar is swept back and forth across a lane while a user proceeds forward. A navigation sensor and processor keep track of all the parts of the lane that have been probed. A user display presents a visual graphic that represents the lane and the parts of it that have been probed. The user is then able to swing the radar to areas that are indicated as having been skipped in previous passes, e.g., to get 100% coverage.
5 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A landmine detecting and locating system, comprising:
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a ground-penetrating radar for emitting radio signals into the surface of the ground, and for receiving any returned signals;
a navigation system attached to the ground-penetrating radar and providing for a series of position fixes that indicate ground locations visited by the ground-penetrating radar;
a processor connected to the navigation system for mapping said ground locations visited onto a search grid, and connected to the ground-penetrating radar for evaluating said returned signals as indicating the presence of a buried a landmine; and
a graphic display having a visual representation of said ground locations visited superimposed on a visual representation of said search grid, and providing for navigation guidance of a user to sweep the ground-penetrating radar across locations in said search grid that are not yet visited and evaluated for the presence of landmines. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A landmine sweeping system, comprising:
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a buried-object probe that electronically illuminates a lane on the ground and that interprets any signals received back for the presence of contrasting materials;
a navigation sensor attached to the buried-object probe and providing for a series of navigation position fixes;
a display processor connected to the buried-object probe and the navigation sensor, and providing for a data item that represents areas on a map that have been visited by the buried-object probe and scanned for buried objects; and
a user display connected to translate said data item, and to visually depict said map and said buried objects on a video screen. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of landmine detection and logging, the method comprising the steps of:
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manually sweeping a ground area for buried objects with a ground-penetrating radar;
computing a series of navigational positions visited by said ground-penetrating radar;
automatically marking a video map representation for user display to indicate the spots in a larger area that have been swept based on information obtained in the step of computing;
indicating on said video map representation any buried objects detected in the step of manually sweeping; and
showing a user on said video map representation any spots in said larger area that remain unswept and not investigated. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification