Patent ID: 6386036
Filing Date: 2002-05-14
Classification: F41H,G01H,G01S,G01V

Abstract:
A prodder with force feedback for sensing an object buried beneath the ground, comprising:a probe including a rod having a prodding end for prodding the object and a transducer coupled to a non-prodding end of the rod for providing an acoustic wave to the object and for receiving acoustic waves reflected from the object; a housing including a first cavity containing a fluid and for supporting the probe such that the volume of the fluid within the first cavity is affected by pressure applied to the prodding end of the rod; a force sensor fluidly coupled to the first cavity for determining a change in pressure of a fluid within the first cavity; and, an electronics module for processing data related to the reflected waves, for processing data related the change in pressure of the fluid, and for providing data for comparing the processed data against stored values representative of the acoustic characteristics of known materials so as to categorize the object's material.