Patent ID: 8485037

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a vibration generation system configured to generate acoustic energy that causes vibrations to occur in a ground; a vibration measurement system configured to transmit a number of laser beams to a surface of the ground in which the vibrations occur; receive a number of responses to the number of laser beams; and generate vibration data from the number of responses; an optical system associated with the vibration measurement system and configured to direct the number of laser beams to the surface of the ground such that the number of laser beams has a selected spatial arrangement relative to the surface; a controller configured to determine whether an object is present under the surface of the ground using the vibration data; a vehicle, wherein the vibration measurement system, the vibration generation system, and the controller are associated with the vehicle; and a location system configured to identify movement of the vehicle, wherein the controller is configured to control movement of the number of laser beams to a number of locations on the surface of the ground while the vehicle is moving such that the number of laser beams remain at the number of locations for a period of time sufficient to obtain a sufficient response to generate the vibration data that can be used for determining whether the object is present under the surface of the ground at the number of locations.