EMASI - The gold finding Ground Penetrating Radar

Some Pics.

2009-06-06T11:26:00.006+10:00

We'll have some pictures of the actual radar in the next post, hopefully.

Hardware modifications

2009-06-02T14:14:00.002+10:00

Looks like Rev1 is getting a new LNA.

Currently we have an RF switch making sure that the sample-and-hold doesn't get saturated,
but with an LNA we can have anywhere from -80Db gain to +60Db from our current signal.
once we get that done (over the next few weeks) we can start on Rev2!

Rev2 is probably going to use exactly the same hardware, with only a few modifications to the front end. We'll have the LNA (with its custom aluminum case) and two receive antennas.
Why two?
So we can have 2D imaging, to be more like a normal metal detector.

After that, who knows?

Perfection acheived!

2009-04-03T21:51:00.002+11:00

At least for rev1.

It cant possibly get any faster because of the zero-delay changeable times.
it now uses the full 10-bit A/D conversion and has quadrupled the resolution.
now most of the delay is coming from the graphics, which also has frame skips.

so, the GPR project can now be explained in a short piece of pseudo-code

int continue_project(){
if(date > easter){
return 1;
}else{
return 0;
}
}
non-c people, please try hard to understand it.

It means that the BPR is at a standstill until after eater, when we have our field test.

bye 'til then!
}

Updates galore

2009-03-25T17:18:00.002+11:00

This blog will hopefully get a flurry of updates as we move onto Rev 2 after Easter.

Code update - Upgraded the A/D to 10 bits, effectively quadrupling the amount of resolution.
- Sped up USB transfers, unfortunately is slowed down due to 16 bit numbers.

Hardware update - decreased voltage input due to increased sensitivity
- started design of Rev 2

ToDo - fix graphs and modify PC side of program to 'use' 10 bit information.
- Finish design of Rev 2

And on top of this, I also have school, where we are currently doing our SAC's.

Yay for 103% on VCE maths SAC.

Code and name update

2009-03-06T19:47:00.003+11:00

EMASI the name for the GPR is now full acronymed, I am actaully quite proud of it.

Electro
Magnetic
Anomaly
Sensitive
Interrogator (radar device for aeroplanes)

The name was really hard to come up with, I almost got completely stuck at I until my dad stepped in and saved me from becoming a for( ; ; )
(for those with no C++ programming skills it's an infinite loop -_-;)
While on the subject of code, I have updated it with several new features, even though you don't really know the complete list yet. I have added a save to file feature which is always on, it continually writes to file and saves the name as the date.

Its quite nifty actually.

Hello World!

2009-03-04T20:45:00.000+11:00

I guess that this is the first post for my new blog, Its going to be quite technical, with quite a bit of C/C++ jargon and circuit schematics. Why all of this just for a blog you may ask, well it isn't just for me, it's for my dad and emasi. Emasi is gold in malay and is also the name of our (me and my dad) invention.

It is a Ground Penetrating Radar, GPR for short. It looks through the ground to find gold and many other metal or plastic things, the only downfall of this is it is horrendously expensive, wer'e talking upwards of twenty grand here. We are going to halve that with our new technique. Its a consumer device, so if you want one, you can come to our place an get one made to your specifications.

I guess that this is probably enough information for a first post, and that we all should go about our own buisness now.