Teleoperation of an Autonomous Ground-Penetrating Radar for Non-Destructive Surveying: Design and Implementation

Abstract: A lot of features that need to be scanned underground should not be disturbed, from waterlines to unmarked graves. A non-invasive way of probing underground is Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR). GPR finds differences in materials with radar waves. However, GPR is human-operated and its position is generally determined with a GPS. In some cases, the presence of a human operator can be dangerous, and in other cases, the GPS is not reliable (i.e. mines, glaciers). Therefore there are situations where an autonomous and non-GPS-reliant solution is preferable. The current state of the autonomous GPR system targeted in this work has a non-intuitive GUI that requires an experienced hand to operate. I present an updated hardware and software platform with an intuitive GUI. This updated autonomous system continuously builds a map of its surroundings with Simultaneous Mapping And Localization (SLAM). SLAM localizes itself within the map through sensor-fused position estimates. After the survey is completed the positions are saved and integrated with radar data to be visualized. Robot Operating System 2 (ROS2) is the software I used that allows communications between hardware components, software systems, and the GUI. The new hardware package uses only one source of power and is built using quick connectors that allow for quick removal from the GPR platform. This system allows for intuitive autonomous survey planning and execution in any field paired with a simple way of visualizing data.