Automated perforation of in-situ ground covering
OwnerThomas Pettit Munsoninventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and methods for forming holes in a ground cover material as a vehicle travels over terrain. The methods comprise: detecting when a mobility mechanism of the vehicle or a machine coupled to the vehicle has moved in a direction by a certain amount; generating a control signal by a controller responsive to said detecting; communicating the control signal from the controller to a heat source; producing heat by the heat source in response to the control signal; and using the heat to form a hole in the ground cover material as the vehicle travels at a speed over the terrain.
Claims23
A method for forming holes in a ground cover material as a vehicle travels over terrain, comprising:
- detecting when a mobility mechanism of the vehicle or a machine coupled to the vehicle has moved in a direction by a certain amount;
- generating a control signal by a controller responsive to said detecting;
- communicating the control signal from the controller to a heat source;
- producing heat by the heat source in response to the control signal;
- and
- using the heat to form a hole in the ground cover material as the vehicle travels at a speed over the terrain.
A system, comprising:
- a vehicle;
- and
- a heating mechanism coupled to the vehicle and comprising:
- a detector configured to detect when a mobility mechanism of the vehicle or a machine coupled to the vehicle has moved in a direction by a certain amount;
- a controller configured to generate a control signal responsive to an actuation of the switch;
- a heat source configured to receive the control signal from the controller and produce heat in response to a reception of the control signal;
- and
- wherein the heat is used to form a hole in a ground cover material as the vehicle travels at a speed over the terrain.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.