Multisensor vehicle-mounted mine detector
First Claim
1. A mine detector adapted for travelling over objects on or under the ground and for identifying which of said objects are mines comprising:
- a vehicle for advancing over the objects;
one or more sensors leading the vehicle and being supported therefrom, said leading sensors being operative to sense objects which they advanced over while the vehicle is in motion and establishing the coordinates of said sensed objects;
means for tracking the coordinates of the sensed object as the vehicle advances over the sensed object;
a sensor trailing the vehicle and being connected thereto, said trailing sensor being operative to confirm whether a sensed object is a mine when the trailing sensor dwells stationary over the sensed object; and
means for positioning said trailing sensor stationary over the established coordinates of the sensed object and operating said trailing sensor for confirming whether the sensed object is a mine.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A multisensor vehicle-mounted mine detector having one or more sensors leading the vehicle for detecting objects in the ground while moving. A navigational system tracks the coordinates of the detected objects, performs data fusion, declares whether the object is a target worthy of interest and if so, stops the vehicle with a trailing thermal neutron activator sensor (TNA) over the coordinates of the object and interrogating the object with slow neutrons to confirm whether it contains sufficient nitrogen to indeed be a mine. The TNA confirmation is kept brief due to the use of a strong source coupled with means for analysing the resultant pulses and rejecting piled-up pulses. The difference between an integration of the entire pulse and a portion of the pulse is compared against a predetermined difference for a normal pulse wherein variations therebetween are indicative of a piled-up pulse which is then rejected. If a mine is confirmed it is then temporarily physically marked with a mixture of a dry granular, free-flowing superabsorbent polymer and dyed liquid to form a voluminous semi-solid gel.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A mine detector adapted for travelling over objects on or under the ground and for identifying which of said objects are mines comprising:
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a vehicle for advancing over the objects; one or more sensors leading the vehicle and being supported therefrom, said leading sensors being operative to sense objects which they advanced over while the vehicle is in motion and establishing the coordinates of said sensed objects; means for tracking the coordinates of the sensed object as the vehicle advances over the sensed object; a sensor trailing the vehicle and being connected thereto, said trailing sensor being operative to confirm whether a sensed object is a mine when the trailing sensor dwells stationary over the sensed object; and means for positioning said trailing sensor stationary over the established coordinates of the sensed object and operating said trailing sensor for confirming whether the sensed object is a mine. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method for determining whether an object on or under the ground'"'"'s surface is a mine comprising:
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providing one or more sensors capable of sensing the presence of an object while the sensors are moving across the ground and a confirmatory sensor which, when stationary, is capable of confirming whether an object is a mine; traversing the ground with the moving sensors for sensing an object and establishing the coordinates of said sensed object; positioning the confirmatory sensor over the coordinates of the sensed object; and dwelling the confirmatory sensor stationary over the sensed object; and operating the confirmatory sensor to confirm whether the sensed object is a mine. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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Specification