System and Method for UXO Detection
AssigneeArrotech Corporation
InventorTobias Leininger
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and method for detecting unexploded ordnance (UXO) is disclosed. The system combines a customized UAV with a ground control station, and flies terrain with centimeter precision using onboard LIDAR, SONAR, and RADAR sensors at altitudes as low as 20 cm. The system also provides several methods for mission planning including numerous GUIs for tablets and smartphones. The system provides obstacle avoidance and non-geometric area mapping. The data is fully compatible with numerous geophysical software formats and is capable of precisely following real world terrain at distances as close as 20 cm, and is able to avoid obstacles in its flight path.
Claims20
A method of constructing and configuring a ground control system for a customized UAV to achieve detection of UXO, comprising:
- locating and configuring a tablet and laptop within the ground control system;
- configuring the tablet with pre-configured logic for operating the UAV, including selecting a region for performing UXO detection;
- configuring the laptop to manage, format, store, and display UXO information within the selected region;
- and
- fusing the metal detector data with position data from the UAV at the time the reading was taken.
A method of structuring and configuring a system for detecting unexploded ordnance (UXO), comprising:
- configuring a ground control system (GCS) to work with a pre-configured unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the UAV comprising a flight controller, a metal detector, and a sensor hub;
- configuring a tablet with a mobile app loaded thereupon for facilitating human usage of the GCS;
- the GCS assisting the user in defining land boundaries to be searched for UXO;
- the GCS controlling
- an flight plan of the UAV;
- all data-acquisition and data-management tasks performed by the UAV, including data and communications related to geographic data, flight plan, all terrain data obtained, and all UXO data obtained;
- and
- the GCS controlling the UAV using a specific predetermined methodology of obtaining UXO information available in the user-defined area.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.