Nonintrusive Inspection Method And System

• US 20080123809A1
• Filed: 12/20/2004
• Published: 05/29/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SC MB Telecom Ltd SRL
• Original Assignee: SC MB Telecom Ltd SRL
• Inventors: Ionescu, Rasvan, Duralia, Adrian, Bizgan, Adrian, Tudor, Mircea, Semenescu, Sergiu, Ghita, Petre, Oancea, Florin, Serban, Eduard, Tudor, Gheorghe, Grechi, Cristian, Sima, Constantin, Mieilica, Emilian
• Granted Patent: US 7,460,639 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 378/57
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 5/22 Active interrogation, i.e. by irradiating objects or goods using external radiation sources, e.g. using gamma rays or cosmic rays
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 5/271 using a network, e.g. a remote expert, accessing remote data or the like

Abstract

This invention relates to a nonintrusive inspection method and system, that radiographies containers, vehicles and train carriages without having to break seals, open containers or physical control.

The nonintrusive inspection method, according to the invention consists of an autonomous mobile scanning unit, installed on a chassis that has remote controlled drive, steering and brakes and another autonomous mobile unit referred as “source robot”, that moves synchronized with the scanning unit and who'"'"'s drive, steering and braking are also remotely controlled. The two units are moving synchronized with low and constant speed, electronically controlled, framing the object that is to be inspected, in a limited and protected perimeter where the access is managed by an automated traffic management subsystem.

The system, according with the invention is made out of some autonomous mobile scanning units (1 and 5), managed by a third mobile unit (12) which is tow able, that is a remote control centre. The system also includes an automated traffic management subsystem (14) and an exclusion area (a) protection subsystem (13).

The source robot (5) has a built in radiation source or generator (6) and the mobile scanning unit consists of a detector area designed specially for the type of the radiation used, made out of two parts, the upper detector area (3), mounted on a steel prop (29) and a lower detector area (4). Both mobile units (1 and 5) are autonomous and have subsystems for the automated control of speed and steering (10). The mobile control centre (12) is placed outside the exclusion area (a) and manages remotely all the components of the system.

Claims

1. A nonintrusive inspection method for the scanning of vehicles using radiations, comprising the following stages:

the vehicle is placed in a marked spot, having access in the exclusion area through an automated traffic management subsystem that automatically commands the functioning of the barriers and of the entry/exit semaphores;

the protection of the exclusion area is activated after the driver of the vehicle that is to be scanned left the exclusion area;

the scanning process is initiated by remote commands to the mobile scanning unit and the source carrier robot;

the radiation source is activated;

the slow and constant motion movement of the two mobile units is started, these units moving rectilinear and uniform on parallel trajectories framing the scanned vehicle, the source robot moving synchronized with the mobile scanning unit;

the movement of the mobile units is automatically controlled by electronic and informatics modules, connected with the control centre in a local area network, through radio modems, centre from which they receive commands, and towards which they send in real time status information and dedicated data;

the stopping of the scan is performed automatically in the following situations, when the detector boom has passed the extremity of the scanned vehicle and the detectors receive the maximum level of radiation, at the end of the programmed scan length, when the protection limiter of the movement is triggered, when the protection of the exclusion area has been breached, when the proximity sensor has been triggered indicating dangerous distance between the detector boom and the scanned vehicle, when obstacles close to the guiding paths have been automatically detected by sensors placed on the mobile units;

the image resulted from scanning the vehicle is displayed on the operator'"'"'s monitor;

at the end of the stage the protection of the exclusion area is automatically deactivated, and the vehicle may leave the scanning area;

the two mobile units move back to the start position and the scanning cycle may be restarted.

2. Nonintrusive inspection system that implements the method described in claim 1, comprising:

a mobile scanning unit installed on an truck chassis, containing some detector areas specific to the radiation type source used, a source robot carrier of a radiation source, both units being autonomous and having subsystems with feedback, for the automated control of speed and steering, a positioning synchronization subsystem and a hydraulic propulsion subsystem to realize a rectilinear and uniform slow motion of the scanning unit, and a mobile control centre, that is placed outside of the scanning area and that remotely manages all processes, including a subsystem for acquisition, processing, storage and displaying of scanned image, the system also includes an exclusion area protection subsystem, an automated traffic management subsystem and a computer management subsystem.

3. Nonintrusive inspection system according to claim 2, where the mobile scanning unit has a detector boom made out of the upper detector area and the lower detector area, the last being mounted independently, laterally to the right, on the supplementary chassis, in an oscillatory fix in a perpendicular bolt on the longitudinal axle of the chassis and the upper detector area, mounted on a steel prop that can pivot in a bearing solidary with the supplementary chassis, the two detector areas having separate folding systems but unitary functionality during scanning procedures.

4. A nonintrusive inspection system according to claim 3, where the detector boom is made out of five segments orientated under different angles, and is made of light alloy assembled in a “

T”

shape.

5. A nonintrusive control system according to claim 2, where in another implementing variant, the subsystem for the automated control of speed and steering of the mobile unit, has an electric motor, to drive the steering column and an electronic automated command and control module and receives positioning information relative to the two guiding paths through some hardware/software modules and processes them through some module resulting the input for the positioning synchronization subsystem, connected to the execution servo systems of the chassis and of the source robot.

6. A nonintrusive inspection system according to claim 2, where in another implementing variant, the subsystem for the automated control of speed and steering receives information concerning the relative position from some rotating beam laser sensors reflected in a fixed network of laser reflectors, through some modules and processes them through some hardware/software modules, supplying the input for the positioning synchronization subsystem connected to the execution servo systems of the chassis and the source robot.

7. A nonintrusive inspection system according to claim 2, where the hydraulic transmission subsystem, that propels the chassis in slow motion has a mechanical gearbox for combined drive subsystem, with a revelation sensor, a hydraulic pump with electronically controlled variable flow capacity, a hydraulic motor an electronic command module and dedicated software application for the automated speed control.

8. A nonintrusive inspection system according to claim 2, where the automated traffic management subsystem in the exclusion area and limitrophe area has some barriers with some traffic lights commanded wireless and remotely directly by a dedicated software application, and the exclusion area protection subsystem of the exclusion area is made out of some active presence sensors, a control module of the sensors status and an automatic shut down of the radioactive source module in case the exclusion area has been breached.

9. A nonintrusive inspection system according to claim 2, where the subsystem for acquisition, processing, storage and displaying of scanned image is made out of some electronic modules that include some preamplifiers, some multiplexers, some analogue-digital converters, some microcontrollers, a data bus, some modules, a communication interface to a processing unit running a dedicated software application, connected in a wireless LAN to another processing unit running another software application that displays the radiography of the scanned vehicle on a monitor.

10. A nonintrusive inspection system according to claims 3, where in another implementing variant, the subsystem for the automated control of speed and steering receives information concerning the relative position from some rotating beam laser sensors reflected in a fixed network of laser reflectors, through some modules and processes them through some hardware/software modules, supplying the input for the positioning synchronization subsystem connected to the execution servo systems of the chassis and the source robot.

11. A nonintrusive inspection system according to claims 4, where in another implementing variant, the subsystem for the automated control of speed and steering receives information concerning the relative position from some rotating beam laser sensors reflected in a fixed network of laser reflectors, through some modules and processes them through some hardware/software modules, supplying the input for the positioning synchronization subsystem connected to the execution servo systems of the chassis and the source robot.

12. A nonintrusive inspection system according to claims 5, where in another implementing variant, the subsystem for the automated control of speed and steering receives information concerning the relative position from some rotating beam laser sensors reflected in a fixed network of laser reflectors, through some modules and processes them through some hardware/software modules, supplying the input for the positioning synchronization subsystem connected to the execution servo systems of the chassis and the source robot.