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GPRino

Ground Penetrating Radar using Arduino

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This project developed a very low cost (under 300 USD components cost) Ground Penetrating Radar. The acquired data can be visualized onboard, in real time, as well as stored and transferred to a PC for further processing.
The digital section uses an Arduino Mega 2560 board.
The onboard visualization uses an LCD shield for Arduino Mega 2560.
The analog section is custom built.
The frequency range is 323 MHz - 910 MHz.

The construction and software files contain the complete information for building the project.

Software v3.zip

Arduino and PC (made in LabVIEW 2013) source code

x-zip-compressed - 900.80 kB - 02/11/2024 at 19:57

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Operation_instructions.txt

Operation Instructions

plain - 1.26 kB - 10/21/2023 at 18:23

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Antennas.zip

Antennas - New version of antennas, must be printed on double-sided PCB FR4 laminate size A4 (210 x 297 mm)

x-zip-compressed - 361.52 kB - 08/30/2021 at 13:46

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PCB_Construction.zip

PCB images in PDF for Toner Transfer PCB construction (Top layer mirrored), and schematics

x-zip-compressed - 2.03 MB - 05/24/2022 at 14:49

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LF (GPR_JF) board.zip

OrCAD 9.2 design files and Gerber for Low Frequency board

x-zip-compressed - 344.98 kB - 10/21/2020 at 12:02

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View all 9 files

  • 1 × Arduino Mega 2560
  • 1 × LCD TFT 3.2 inch + slot sd card Uses HX8357 chip
  • 1 × JTOS-850VW+ VCO
  • 1 × PAT-10+ RF Attenuator
  • 2 × PSA4-5043+ LNA

View all 49 components

  • 19.10.2020

    Mirel Paun10/19/2020 at 14:14 0 comments

    System tested on a bridge. This is the GPR image obtained for the bridge in the photo:

  • 08.10.2020

    Mirel Paun10/08/2020 at 16:03 0 comments

    System tested and works fine.

    Antenna coupling is quite high. Would be nice placing the antennas at a bigger distance from each other, or using more directive antennas in order to reduce unwanted coupling.

View all 2 project logs

  • 1
    Board stack
  • 2
    Board stack in box

    This is how the electronic boards are stacked.

  • 3
    RF (GPR_RF) board top

View all 9 instructions

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Discussions

Reginald Beardsley wrote 10/22/2020 at 14:45 point

Standoff is probably about right.  These guys pretty much dominate the market:

https://www.geophysical.com/antennas

Your horizontal sampling on the bridge is much too coarse.  You should be sampling at intervals of a few cm.   Bury a piece of steel pipe in sand at a depth of a foot or two, place a board over it so you can roll smoothly across it.   Halve the horizontal sample rate until you get a nice looking hyperbola.

For  processing  the data to suppress noise and form an image  I recommend Seismic Unix. 

https://github.com/JohnWStockwellJr/SeisUnix

while developed for reflection seismic work it is widely used in GPR research also.  I'm a retired seismic research scientist and supported SU professionally for many years.  Send me a PM if you want more info.

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Mirel Paun wrote 10/23/2020 at 10:04 point

Thank you for the useful information. I'll increase the horizontal sampling rate.

  Are you sure? yes | no

Michael Erberich wrote 11/09/2020 at 23:01 point

Another note on horizontal sampling: currently it is tied to the wheel diameter. I would be nice for inspired designs if the source code had horizontal sampling interval as a configurable parameter. It might already be (I haven't looked at the source).

  Are you sure? yes | no

Dmitry wrote 10/21/2020 at 06:51 point

Hi, great project! Could you please include schematics for the RF board in PDF format? Similar to the "GPR_JF_Schematic.pdf" in the "LF (GPR_JF) board.zip" file. I tried to open schematics with OrCAD (downloaded trial version 17.4 from the OrCAD website), but it was not very successful. It can import and open *.max files (with some errors) but I don't know how to open/convert schematics. So PDF file with the schematics would be very convenient (for those who are not familiar with OrCAD).

Also, I think, it would be handy to have layout files in PDF too for the LF and RF boards. If it's not a problem.

  Are you sure? yes | no

Mirel Paun wrote 10/21/2020 at 08:32 point

Hello! Thanks for the appreciation. I used OrCAD 9.2, so you should try installing this version. I provided Gerber files for creating the PCBs without the need for OrCAD. GPR_JF.bot, GPR_RF.bot and GPR_RF.top are the Gerber files for copper layers.

I will upload them also in PDF format for easy Toner Transfer PCB creation (top layer will be mirrored).

  Are you sure? yes | no

Dmitry wrote 10/21/2020 at 09:06 point

Great! It seems like KiCad and EasyEDA gerber viewers can open *.ast, *.drd, *.gnd, *.pwr, *.smb, *.smt, and *.sst files (apart from *.bot and *.top ones).

Edit: ah, they are listed in the *.gtd file as 9 layers.

Edit 2: I was able to open *.dsn file (LF board) in the 17.4 version (it shows schematic etc.). But I can't find *.dsn file for the RF board.

  Are you sure? yes | no

Mirel Paun wrote 10/21/2020 at 12:10 point

I added them. I created the RF board directly in Layout as PCB, without a schematic, because OrCAD lacks Minicircuit ICs. Now I added a schematic for RF created in Paint.

  Are you sure? yes | no

Dmitry wrote 10/21/2020 at 14:14 point

Thank you for the RF schematic (and other files)!

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Adam Quantrill wrote 10/23/2020 at 11:46 point

Thanks Mirel. Also would it be possible to upload some better photos of your existing antennas? Especially where the TX and RX feeds are connected.

  Are you sure? yes | no

Nick wrote 10/04/2020 at 08:47 point

will you be sharing details of the RF components & the Arduino code - this has many potential applications for good.

  Are you sure? yes | no

Mirel Paun wrote 10/21/2020 at 08:18 point

I added the details (schematics and software).

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RoFree wrote 10/04/2020 at 04:37 point

what is the legality of this as a spread spectrum emission. Usually you would need a license

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geocheats2 wrote 10/02/2020 at 11:22 point

I would love to know more about the whole endeavor when you are ready

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Klaus wrote 10/01/2020 at 11:33 point

Looks awesome! I am just wondering...aren't the antennas too low? Well, I cannot really make out the geometry and dimensions. On the hand-drawn diagram they look rather large and to me it seems that the radar hits the ground while still in the near-field region. or maybe it's just that I calculated the far-field distance in my head...

  Are you sure? yes | no

Mirel Paun wrote 10/02/2020 at 06:26 point

Thank you for the Like. You are right, the antennas are 4 cm above the ground, so the ground is definitely in the near-field region. Because the operating frequency range is quite low, the near-field extends far away from the antennas. Do you think it is necessary to mount the system on a trolley in order to move the ground in the far-field region? Is this going to improve the characteristics of the system?

  Are you sure? yes | no

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