Soil Imaging Probe Elastomeric Vibration Isolation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current soil imaging probes are inefficient and costly to assemble, lack durability during percussion advancement, and struggle to accurately detect hydrocarbon contamination with reduced background detection in soil imaging methods.
Innovation Solution
A soil imaging probe with a housing and optical module featuring a camera, light sources, and elastomeric fill material for energy isolation, combined with a two-stage image filtering process to identify hydrocarbon contamination, ensuring proper alignment and reduced background detection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If traditional imaging probes are assembled with rigid mounting structures, then alignment precision is improved, but assembly complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an elastomeric intermediary material that fills the cavity and mounts the optical module. This elastomeric material serves as a mediator between the rigid probe housing and the optical components, providing both precise alignment through its elastic properties and simplified assembly by eliminating complex rigid mounting structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical state of the mounting material from rigid to elastomeric, allowing the material to deform and adapt to the optical module's position while maintaining consistent alignment. This parameter change enables simpler assembly procedures while preserving manufacturing precision.
2Strength
If rigid structures are used to mount the optical module, then structural strength is improved, but durability during percussion advancement deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The elastomeric fill material serves as a cushioning element that is already in place before the probe undergoes percussion advancement. This pre-installed cushioning material absorbs the mechanical shocks and vibrations generated during soil penetration, protecting the optical module from damage while maintaining the structural integrity of the rigid probe housing.
Solution Approach 2:
The elastomeric material acts as a shock-absorbing intermediary between the rigid probe housing and the fragile optical module, decoupling the transmission of mechanical stresses during percussion advancement from the optical components, thereby ensuring both structural strength and durability.
3Productivity
If single-stage image filtering is used, then processing speed is improved, but detection accuracy for hydrocarbon contamination deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The image filtering process is segmented into multiple distinct stages, each performing a specific function: the first stage filters for general fluorescence characteristics, while the second stage refines the detection by filtering for specific hydrocarbon contamination patterns. This segmentation allows each stage to optimize for its specific purpose, improving overall detection accuracy while maintaining reasonable processing speed through parallelizable operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The first stage of filtering performs preliminary action by quickly identifying potential hydrocarbon contamination areas based on broad fluorescence characteristics. This preliminary filtering reduces the number of pixels that require intensive analysis in the second stage, thereby improving overall processing efficiency while maintaining high detection accuracy.
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
The solution enables efficient assembly, durability during percussion, and effective detection of hydrocarbon contamination with reduced background interference, providing accurate imaging and quantitative analysis of contamination levels.
Implementation Method 1
An elastomeric fill material fills the interior cavity and substantially surrounds the optical module to reduce energy transference from the housing of the probe to the optical module
Implementation Method 2
U.S. Pat. No. 5,548,115 issued to Ballard et al. discloses a probe device for in-situ detection of contaminants in subsurface soil. The device uses UV light through a sapphire window to fluoresce contaminants in the soil.
Data Source
AI summary
A soil imaging probe has a housing with an interior cavity and an outer surface exposed for sliding contact with soil. A window is mounted in the outer surface for providing optical communication between the soil and the interior cavity. An optical module is positioned within the interior cavity. The optical module includes at least one light source and a camera mounted in a block. An indexing surface is defined in the interior cavity to maintain the optical module at a predetermined fixed distance from the window to keep the camera focused on the soil outside the window. An elastomeric fill material fills the interior cavity and substantially surrounds the optical module to reduce energy transference from the housing of the probe to the optical module. An image processing method is also provided to identify pixels in an image captured by the camera that show potential hydrocarbon contamination.