Inspection of Hidden Structure

• US 20110243476A1
• Filed: 04/06/2011
• Published: 10/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jeffrey M Sieracki
• Original Assignee: Jeffrey M Sieracki
• Inventors: Sieracki, Jeffrey M.
• Granted Patent: US 8,731,333 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/291
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 11/00 Prospecting or detecting by methods combining techniques covered by two or more of main groups G01V1/00 - G01V9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 11/002 Details, e.g. power supply systems for logging instruments, transmitting or recording data, specially adapted for well logging, also if the prospecting method is irrelevant means for transmitting well survey signals E21B47/12; signal transmission systems in general G08C; transmission in general H04B
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 3/15 specially adapted for use during transport, e.g. by a person, vehicle or boat

Abstract

An inspection apparatus determines information indicative of structure that may be hidden behind an obscuring boundary, such as a wall. A processor collects measurements of properties characterizing the hidden structure and measurements of location of the apparatus. The collected data are mapped to produce an image of intensity in the characteristic measurements. Each intensity value in the image reflects a measure of density, of material type, or of some other specific information by which hidden structure can be discerned. The intensity changes indicating the hidden structure are displayed to a user via color-coded pixels or the like.

Claims

1. An apparatus to inspect a region of interest for structure therein, the apparatus comprising:

at least one sensor to generate at least one characteristic signal responsive to at least one structural characteristic of the region of interest at a location on a surface therein of the sensor and to generate a position signal indicative of the location on the surface;

a processor to generate numerical values from the characteristic signal and the position signal as the sensor is translated over the surface and to establish an association between the numerical values generated from the position signal and the numerical values generated from the characteristic signal; and

a display to generate a two-dimensional image from the associated numerical values so as to be perceived by a human user, the image representing the structure in the region of interest obscured by and parallel to the surface.

2. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the numerical values generated from the position signal are indicative of a position in a two-dimensional space corresponding to the location on the surface.

3. The apparatus as recited in claim 2, wherein the indicated position is relative to an origin in the two-dimensional space.

4. The apparatus as recited in claim 3, wherein the origin is selected by a user.

5. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein at least one sensor includes at least one inspection sensor to generate the characteristic signal and a position/motion sensor to generate the position signal, the inspection sensor having a predetermined area over which the surface is sensed to generate the characteristic signal and the position/motion sensor having a spatial resolution by which the position signal indicates the location on the surface.

6. The apparatus as recited in claim 5, wherein the spatial resolution of the position/motion sensor is finer than a dimension defining the area of the inspection sensor.

7. The apparatus as recited in claim 6, wherein the processor generates the numerical values from the characteristic signal from areas on the surface that overlap due to translation of the inspection sensor at the spatial resolution of the position/motion sensor.

8. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, where the at least one sensor generates a plurality of characteristic signals responsive to diverse characteristics of the structure at the location on the surface.

9. The apparatus as recited in claim 8, where the processor establishes the association between the numerical values generated from the position signal at the location on the surface and the numerical values generated from each of the characteristic signals at the location.

10. The apparatus as recited in claim 9, wherein the processor generates numerical values indicative of another structural characteristic derived from the plurality of characteristic signals, the display generating the two-dimensional image from the numerical values for the other structural characteristic and the numerical values generated from the position signal.

11. The apparatus as recited in claim 10, wherein the display generates a two-dimensional image from the associated numerical values of the position signal and each of the characteristic signals and displays each two-dimensional image overlaid one onto another.

12. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising a projector whereby the two-dimensional image is projected onto the surface.

13. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the sensor, the processor, the display are collocated into a single handheld housing.

14. The apparatus as recited in claim 13, further comprising a projector whereby the two-dimensional image is projected onto the surface, the projector being incorporated in the housing.

15. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the display generates the two-dimensional image in a two-dimensional graphical window defined in the display such that a location of the display in the region of interest is positioned at a center of the display.

16. The apparatus as recited in claim 15, wherein the location of the display in the region of interest is positioned at the center of the display at every location in the region of interest through which the sensor is translated.

17. An apparatus to inspect a region of interest for structure therein, the apparatus comprising:

an inspection sensor having a predetermined contact area over a characteristic measurement in the region of interest is made thereby at a location on a surface therein;

a position/motion sensor to determine the location at which the characteristic measurement is made;

a data storage unit to store a data map in which map values are stored in correspondence with a predetermined coordinate system;

a processor to collect a plurality of successive characteristic measurements from the inspection sensor made along a scan trajectory, to generate numerical values from the characteristic measurements, to compute the map values from the numerical values, and to store the map values in the data map such that locations in the scan trajectory at which respective characteristic measurements were made spatially correspond with the coordinate system of the data map; and

a display to display a two-dimensional image of pixels assigned pixel values determined from the map values, the image representing the structure in the region of interest obscured by and parallel to the surface.

18. The apparatus as recited in claim 17, where the image is centered in a graphical window positioned in the display in accordance with the locations in the scan trajectory.

19. The apparatus as recited in claim 18, wherein the image is centered in the graphical window such that the locations in the scan trajectory are centered in the display.

20. The apparatus as recited in claim 17, wherein the inspection sensor is a passive material density sensor.

21. A method of determining structure obscured by a surface in a region of interest, the method comprising:

establishing a data map indexed in accordance with a predetermined coordinate system;

obtaining characteristic measurements by translation of a sensor over the surface, the characteristic measurements being made at arbitrary locations along a scan trajectory through which the sensor is translated;

mapping numerical values of the characteristic measurements to numerical values indexed in the data map; and

displaying a two-dimensional image of pixels arranged per the predetermined coordinate system and assigned pixel values corresponding to the numerical values indexed in the data map.

22. The method as recited in claim 21, further comprising:

determining if the translation of the sensor is of a distance greater than a predetermined threshold distance and only upon a positive determination thereof, to obtain the characteristic measurements at the locations along the scan trajectory.