Ground-directed radar system
AssigneeAltec Industries, Inc.
InventorCharles J. LaPrade
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A ground-penetrating radar system and method of operation are described. Particularly, embodiments describe configurations and operations of industrial truck safety systems that inform users of potentially hazardous conditions underground. Embodiments may detect a likely hazardous condition and perform additional examination in response to manual user and/or automatic computer input. Further embodiments may inhibit particular subsystems until the hazardous condition has been resolved and/or determined to be false.
Claims19
A ground-directed radar system comprising:
- a vehicle comprising a cab and at least one outrigger;
- a monitor located within the cab;
- a control unit located within the cab;
- and
- a radar pedal coupled to the outrigger,
- wherein the radar pedal emits a signal at a first frequency into an underlying layer;
- wherein a reflected signal is received by the radar pedal;
- wherein a resultant output generated from the reflected signal is displayed on the monitor,
- wherein the resultant output illustrates the structure of the underlying layer to a first depth, and
- wherein the control unit transmits an adjustment signal causing the radar pedal to emit a signal at a second frequency into the underlying layer.
An industrial truck safety system comprising:
- a radar pedal;
- a control unit;
- and
- a plurality of attachment positions on an industrial truck,
- wherein the radar pedal is removably attachable to any of the attachment positions of the plurality of attachment positions;
- wherein a first attachment position in the plurality of attachment positions is on a first outrigger of the industrial truck,
- wherein the control unit communicates wirelessly with the radar pedal to control an operation of the radar pedal, and
- wherein the radar pedal communicates wirelessly with the control unit to transmit signals corresponding to the physical structure of an underlying layer,
- wherein the underlying layer at supports at least a portion of a weight of the industrial truck.
A method of operating a ground-directed radar system comprising the steps of:
- transmitting an initiation command to a radar pedal,
- emitting a first signal from the radar pedal into an underlying layer at a first frequency in response to the initiation command,
- receiving a first reflected signal from the underlying layer at the radar pedal;
- transmitting first data collected from the first reflected signal to a control unit,
- wherein the first data is used to examine a first penetration depth of the underlying layer;
- determining, by the control unit, a potentially hazardous condition based on the first data;
- transmitting an adjustment command to the radar pedal in response to the determination of the potentially hazardous condition;
- emitting a second signal from the radar pedal into the underlying layer at a second frequency in response to the adjustment command,
- receiving a second reflected signal from the underlying layer at the radar pedal;
- and
- transmitting second data collected from the second reflected signal to the control unit,
- wherein the second data is used to examine a second penetration depth of the underlying layer;
- wherein the second penetration depth is deeper than the first penetration depth.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.