Tim Bodley-Scott, Ryan Grammenos, Lai Bun Lok & Paul Brennan from the Department of Electronics & Electrical Engineering depart of UCL, describe a radar-based potential alternative to precision point distance measurement in construction

1. COMIT Community Day
Workshop Session
Tim Bodley-Scott, Ryan Grammenos
Lai Bun Lok, Paul Brennan
Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering
Thursday 10th Sep 2015
Tarmac, Solihull

2. UCL
• 3rd University established in
England (1826), first to welcome
women on equal terms with men.
• World-leading institution (5th in
QS World Rankings 2014).
• Nobel Prizes have been awarded
to 29 people who are or were
students or academics at UCL,
most recently Prof. John
O’Keefe (Medicine) in 2014.

3. • Oldest EEE department in
England (1885).
• 38 academics, 60 postdocs, 150
PhD students, 100 masters
students and 350
undergraduates.
Founded by the ‘father of
electronics’, Prof. Sir John
Ambrose Fleming, inventor
of the first electronic
device- the thermionic valve
UCL Electronic & Electrical Engineering

4. Hub funded by the EPSRC to bring together:
• Large enterprises whose business will be
influenced by the new technologies
developed at UCL.
• Small enterprises seeking to develop
novel devices or to provide design
software or services.
• Entrepreneurially-minded researchers
from UCL and its university partners within
the Programme Grants.
http://www.biteimpact.org/
biteimpact@ee.ucl.ac.uk
UCL BITE – Knowledge Transfer

5. BITE and Balfour Beatty at the OST
http://www.biteimpact.org/
biteimpact@ee.ucl.ac.uk

6. The Problem
• Millimetre-precision point distance measurement
to multiple targets (up to 1 km range) within a
harsh environment
Proposed new solution
• Radar-based instrument using radio waves
• Simultaneous, non-sequential measurement
capability to multiple targets
• Immunity from dust/smoke/fog
• Low-cost, high portability, ease of setup

7. • Cost is around £10k per unit.
• Difficulties operating in poor visibility
(dust/smoke/fog).
• Mechanical – so slow speed/set-up time.
Total Station: industry-standard optical
instrument for point-to-point surveying
Opto-electro-mechanical
device

8. • >100 Total-stations (MS05AX)
• >1000s prisms
• 18 months: 60 total stations above the Whitechapel and Liverpool Street
Stations monitoring movement. 19 operating within the station tunnels
checking alignment. 10 used for general surveying across the site.
£1.8m+
(0.7% of total
contract cost)
(Sources: www.ice.org.uk/disciplines-and-resources/case-
studies/crossrail-tunnel-construction-monitoring)
Based on quotation from Pheonix Surveying Equipment Ltd (Dec
2014): MS1AXT; Dual-display monitoring Station; £20,114 each.

9. 2015: Tottenham Court Road station
(Source: www.crossrail.co.uk/route/stations/)

10. 2015: Tottenham Court Road station
(Source: www.crossrail.co.uk/route/stations/)

11. Successful SSCG collaboration with industry
Source: www.ucl.ac.uk/impact/case-study-repository/improved-
short-range-marine-navigation-for-large-ships
Source: http://www.guidance.eu.com/mini-radascan

12. Acronyms
• RES: Radio Echo Sounding
– pRES => Phase-sensitive RES
– ApRES => Autonomous pRES
– xRES => ‘Extended’ pRES
• FMCW: Frequency modulated continuous wave
• SSCG: Sensors Systems and Circuits Group
• iSTAR: Ice shelf stability research program
• UWB: Ultra wideband

13. pRES system
Ref: H. F. J. Corr, A. Jenkins, K. W. Nicholls,
C. S. M. Doake, “Precise measurement of
changes in ice-shelf thickness by phase-
sensitive radar to determine basal melt rates,”
Geophysical Res. Letts., vol. 29. no. 8, 2002.

14. Parameters Value
Centre frequency 300 MHz
Sweep bandwidth 200 MHz
Output transmit
power
0.1 W
Antenna gain 7 dBi
Pulse duration 1 sec
DC operating power
consumption
5 W
ADC sampling rate 40 kSa/s
Maximum range c. 5 km
ApRES system
• FMCW radar architecture
• Direct digital synthesis (DDS) linear chirp generator
• Manual/Autonomous operation
Available at: http://digital-library.theiet.org/content/journals/10.1049/iet-rsn.2013.0053

15. Manual measurement example

17. Typical range profile

18. Overview of Fieldwork
Pine Island
Glacier
Autonomous measurement example

19. 70 cm
60 cm
30 cm

20. Publicity

21. Outlook for ApRES
(Source: www.soos.aq/news/current-news/162-necklace)

22. xRES: new, radar-based precision surveying
instrument for the construction industry
• mm-precision measurement.
• Easy set up: no moving parts, no line-of-sight
required; portable, low power consumption.
• Operation in dust/smoke/fog conditions.
• Low-cost: estimated 1/10th cost of Total Station
All-electronic device
Active targets
xRES
Base unit

23. • UWB band – license free spectrum
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UWB_channels

24. Summary
• Overview of ApRES radar technology
• Motivation to widen applications to terrestrial
surveying
• Outline of proposed xRES system
• Pilot/feasibility study

25. Thank you!
Emails: l.lok@ucl.ac.uk
p.brennan@ucl.ac.uk

26. Breakout Session