Site survey method and apparatus
First Claim
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1. A site survey apparatus for detecting a source material present on a site, the apparatus comprising:
- a ground vehicle;
means for moving and guiding said ground vehicle on a selected path; and
means for following terrain disposed on said ground vehicle for automatically retaining and independently positioning each of a plurality of detectors above ground, said means being capable of automatically and independently positioning and retaining each of said detectors at a predetermined height above the ground and in a selected positional relationship to other detectors and maintaining the positions of said detectors as said vehicle transverses irregular terrain.
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Abstract
The disclosure of the invention is directed to a site survey ground vehicle based apparatus and method for automatically detecting source materials, such as radioactivity, marking the location of the source materials, such as with paint, and mapping the location of the source materials on a site. The apparatus of the invention is also useful for collecting and analyzing samples. The apparatus includes a ground vehicle, detectors mounted at the front of the ground vehicle, and individual detector supports which follow somewhat irregular terrain to allow consistent and accurate detection, and autolocation equipment.
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Citations
53 Claims
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1. A site survey apparatus for detecting a source material present on a site, the apparatus comprising:
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a ground vehicle; means for moving and guiding said ground vehicle on a selected path; and means for following terrain disposed on said ground vehicle for automatically retaining and independently positioning each of a plurality of detectors above ground, said means being capable of automatically and independently positioning and retaining each of said detectors at a predetermined height above the ground and in a selected positional relationship to other detectors and maintaining the positions of said detectors as said vehicle transverses irregular terrain. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A site survey apparatus comprising:
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a ground vehicle; a plurality of implements associated with said ground vehicle; and terrain following means disposed on said ground vehicle for independently positioning each of said plurality of implements in a selected relationship to the others and for automatically substantially maintaining each said implement at a determined height above ground as said ground vehicle moves over irregular terrain.
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48. A method for detecting a source material present on a site comprising the following steps of:
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a) providing a ground vehicle comprising detection means responsive to the source material, the detection means comprising a plurality of detectors which are independently positionable in a selected relationship to each other; b) scanning the site for the source material by traversing the site with the ground vehicle and the detection means, and automatically maintaining the detection means substantially at a predetermined height above the ground; and c) providing within the ground vehicle means responsive to the detection means for generating assessment data regarding any source material containing areas, the assessment data comprising the types and quantities of any source material detected on the site. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
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Specification