Material movement sensing techniques
First Claim
1. A method, comprising:
- dispersing several electromagnetic radiation markers within a volume, the volume including several solid objects, at least a portion of the markers being buried beneath at least a portion of the solid objects;
interrogating the volume with electromagnetic radiation, the electromagnetic radiation being in a frequency range of one kHz through one THz;
detecting returned electromagnetic radiation from each of the markers in response to the interrogating; and
evaluating movement among the solid objects from the returned electromagnetic radiation of each of the markers, which includes determining a change in rotational orientation of one of the markers based on selectivity of the one of the markers to one or more properties of the electromagnetic radiation that varies with the rotational orientation of the one of the markers.
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Abstract
One embodiment of the present invention provides several electromagnetic radiation reflectors within a volume that contains solid portions subject to movement relative to one another. At least a portion of the reflectors are positioned beneath one or more of the solid portions and move in response to movement of at least some of the solid portions. The volume is irradiated with electromagnetic radiation having one or more frequencies in a range from one kHz through one THz, and a reflection is detected of at least a portion of the electromagnetic radiation from each of the reflectors in response to this irradiation. Movement among the solid objects is evaluated from the reflection of each of the reflectors, which includes determining a spatial orientation of each one of the reflectors as a function of at least one of polarization selectivity and frequency selectivity.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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dispersing several electromagnetic radiation markers within a volume, the volume including several solid objects, at least a portion of the markers being buried beneath at least a portion of the solid objects; interrogating the volume with electromagnetic radiation, the electromagnetic radiation being in a frequency range of one kHz through one THz; detecting returned electromagnetic radiation from each of the markers in response to the interrogating; and evaluating movement among the solid objects from the returned electromagnetic radiation of each of the markers, which includes determining a change in rotational orientation of one of the markers based on selectivity of the one of the markers to one or more properties of the electromagnetic radiation that varies with the rotational orientation of the one of the markers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method, comprising:
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providing several electromagnetic radiation reflectors within a volume, the volume including solid portions subject to movement relative to one another, at least a portion of the reflectors being hidden from view external to the volume by one or more of the solid portions and moving in response to movement of at least some of the solid portions; operating one or more antennas to perform an electromagnetic radiation interrogation of the volume; and from the interrogation, generating an image representative of an interior of the volume as a function of electromagnetic radiation reflected by each of the reflectors, the electromagnetic radiation being in a frequency range of one kHz through one THz. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An apparatus, comprising:
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several reflectors structured for dispersal in a volume among a number of solid objects subject to movement relative to one another, at least a portion of the reflectors being buried beneath at least a portion of the solid objects; one or more antennas operable to irradiate the volume with electromagnetic radiation having one or more frequencies in a range of one kHz through one THz and detect reflection of at least a portion of the electromagnetic radiation from each of the reflectors; and a processing device responsive to detection of the reflection from each of the reflectors to evaluate movement of the solid objects based on at least one of polarization selectivity and frequency selectivity of the reflection for each one of the reflectors. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method, comprising:
providing several electromagnetic radiation reflectors within a volume, the volume including solid portions subject to movement relative to one another, at least a portion of the reflectors being positioned beneath one or more of the solid portions and moving in response to movement of at least some of the solid portions; irradiating the volume with electromagnetic radiation, the electromagnetic radiation having one or more frequencies in a range of one kHz through one THz; detecting a reflection of at least a portion of the electromagnetic radiation from each of the reflectors in response to the irradiating; and evaluating movement among the solid portions from the reflection of each of the reflectors which includes determining a spatial orientation of each one of the reflectors as a function of at least one of polarization selectivity and frequency selectivity. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
Specification