Electromagnetic Detection System for Unexploded Ordnance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for detecting unexploded ordnance buried under the ground surface have limited working width and are technically complex, making them inefficient and costly for large-area surveys.
Innovation Solution
A system with movable excitation loops and receivers arranged in an overlapping fashion, supported by a carriage that moves in a single pass over the area, allowing for serial triggering of excitation coils and recording of decay behaviors in all three spatial axes, enhancing detection and characterization with geo-coordinates for precise localization and classification.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If portable systems with small excitation coils are used, then the device complexity is reduced and ease of operation is improved, but the working width is too small for effective use in larger areas
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the detection area into multiple zones by arranging several excitation coils (e.g., five coils) and multiple 3D receivers in a segmented configuration. Each coil covers a specific section, and the overlapping arrangement ensures continuous coverage across the entire working width, allowing the system to maintain portability while expanding the effective detection area.
2Area of stationary object
If mobile systems with enlarged working width are used, then the area coverage is improved, but the technical complexity increases enormously
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges multiple excitation coils and multiple 3D receivers into a single integrated mobile unit with a common support structure. The coils are arranged in an overlapping configuration where adjacent coils share common receiver elements, reducing the total number of independent components while maintaining expanded working width. This unified design avoids the enormous complexity of fully independent systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The 3D receivers serve multiple functions simultaneously: they detect responses from multiple adjacent excitation coils, operate in all three spatial axes (x, y, z), and provide positioning information through geo-coordinates. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate specialized components, thereby reducing overall device complexity while maintaining large working width.
3Productivity
If a single pass method with distributed receivers is used, then productivity is improved and repeat measurements are reduced, but measurement precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses multiple 3D receivers distributed across the excitation coil area to provide redundant measurement paths. Each receiver records decay behavior in all three spatial axes, creating multiple feedback loops that cross-validate measurements. This redundancy allows the system to maintain high measurement precision while moving continuously in a single pass, as the overlapping measurement data from multiple receivers compensates for motion-induced variations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from traditional two-dimensional surface detection to three-dimensional spatial measurement by using 3D receivers that detect electromagnetic responses in x, y, and z axes simultaneously. This dimensional expansion provides additional measurement information that enhances precision, allowing the system to achieve high accuracy even during continuous single-pass operation with geo-coordinate tracking.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables effective, economical, and reliable detection and characterization of metallic interference masses over a broader area with a single pass, reducing the need for repeat measurements and improving sensitivity and accuracy in identifying hazardous objects.
Implementation Method 1
electromagnetic pulses are transmitted into the ground by means of an excitation coil
Implementation Method 2
A receiver unit on the ground surface then measures an electromagnetic pulse response following this excitation, which pulse is emitted due to eddy currents in metallic objects of the interference mass in reaction to an electromagnetic excitation pulse
Data Source
Figure 1a~1b
Figure 2a~2b
Figure 3a~3b
AI summary
The present invention relates to a method and system for electromagnetic excitation of a metallic interference mass that lies hidden beneath the surface of the ground, and in particular for detecting unexploded ordnance. In order to produce a device and a method for further improving the detection possibilities with the goal of a more detailed characterization of a metallic object with reduced effort, it is proposed that a carriage (1) composed of electrically nonconductive material be used as a support for an array of excitation coils (11) arranged in the x-y plane and for a multitude of 3D receivers (12) that are distributed essentially in the plane of the excitation coils (11) and are distributed uniformly at least across their area and/or even partially beyond an area covered by at least one excitation coil, and the excitation coils (11) are serially triggered and all of the 3D receivers (12) record a decay behaviour of pulse responses in all three spatial axes (x, y, z).