Multi Sensory Buried Utility Detection System

In accordance with the project timeline progress on all three aims was made. Also according to plans most of the progress was made in aims 1 and 3. First, a new experimental facility for the work with the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) was designed, built, and tested. Figure 1 shows the automated facility.

Prior to building the facility an extensive literature review was made, providing input to its design. It allows the execution of novel experiments. In particular, the cart supports an oscillation of the radar beam, the change of soil type and depth, and the variation in height above the ground. The first set of experiments using pipes buried in the sand has been executed. Work is ongoing on noise reduction and
feature extraction.

A second major advancement that was made was the integration of the EMI and the GPR into one system. Figure 2 presents that prototype unit that was tested on NCSU campus.

As indicated, the BUDS system was mounted on a specially constructed cart. The two sensor technologies are suspended from the frame, positioned right above the ground. Both system are integrated into a laptop that is located conveniently inside a light-shaded platform. With the goal to verify the system, a known water pipe was selected for the first test. As shown in the Fig. 2, the cart was moved first forwards and than backwards across the same connector pipe to a water hydrant visible on the left of the picture. The data collected during this test is shown in Fig. 3.

It was a big surprise that both systems indicated the presence of two pipes since only one pipe was expected to be there. The NCSU Facilities department in fact verified the existence of two pipes, one of which was an abandoned pipe. Work will continue in improving the structural strength of the cart as well as its flexibility. Improvement of the software will be made as the experimental work in the lab progresses.