Magnetic surveying with an unmanned ground vehicle

Abstract

With the recent proliferation of unmanned aerial vehicles for geophysical surveying, a novel opportunity exists to develop unmanned ground vehicles in parallel. This contribution features a study to integrate the Husky A200 robotic development platform with a GSMP 35U magnetometer that has recently been developed for the unmanned aerial vehicle market. Methods to identify and reduce the impact of magnetically noisy components on the unmanned ground vehicle platforms are discussed. The noise generated by the platform in laboratory and gentle field conditions, estimated using the fourth difference method for a magnetometer–vehicle separation distance of 121 cm and rotation of the chassis wheels at full speed (1 m/s), is ±1.97 nT. The integrated unmanned ground vehicle was used to conduct two robotic magnetic surveys to map cultural targets and natural variations of the magnetic field. In realistic field conditions, at a full speed of 1 m/s, the unmanned ground vehicle measured total magnetic intensity over a range of 1730 nT at 0.1 m spatial resolution with a productivity of 2651 line metres per hour.

Leveraging in situ resources for lunar base construction

“…The next task is to deploy a bulldozing blade to robotically excavate a level foundation to a depth of 1 m or more on which a habitat can reside. Shallow subsurface surveying may be undertaken using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) -we have demonstrated field magnetometer surveys on our 32 kg Kapvik microrover (Hay et al 2018). The excavated regolith from the foundation depth may be employed as an overlying radiation shield.…”

Magnetic interference mapping of four types of unmanned aircraft systems intended for aeromagnetic surveying

“…2). The scanner was also used in a previous study to map an unmanned ground vehicle for magnetic surveying (Hay et al, 2018). The scanner, constructed of lowsusceptibility materials, moved a carriage transporting two magnetometer systems along an aluminium track above 105 the UAS.…”

Characterization and compensation of magnetic interference resulting from unmanned aircraft systems

“…A scanner was designed and built to accurately map the magnetic interference of a UAS indoors while allowing the operator to remain at a safe distance while the UAS was in operation (Figure 4-2). The scanner was also used in a previous study to map an unmanned ground vehicle for magnetic surveying (Hay et al 2018).…”