| abstract |
The present invention consists of a method and a scanning system for the nonintrusive inspection of vehicles, container trucks and train carriages. The inspection can be realized without direct human intervention upon the inspected object, thus eliminating time wasting activities like physical control, unsealing, etc. The proposed method for nonintrusive inspection of vehicles and containers has a high inspection capacity (up to 200 vehicles per hour), by achieving a complete vehicle radiography (except the driver's cabin), while driving through the scanning portal and building a system that implements this method, said system being geometrically optimized so that it can be transported rapidly in ISO standardized containers using conventional transport systems (airplane, ship, train, or terrestrial on public roads) in areas where a high level of security is mandatory. The system which implements the method presented earlier is constituted from a mobile scanning unit installed on a chassis (1), said chassis provided with a boom (3) that displays areas of detectors (10) specifically chosen according to the type of penetrant radiation used. In transport mode, the boom (3) is folded which assures the minimum gauge that would allow the compliance of the vehicle with the authorized dimensions of public road transport or in fitting the system into an ISO high cube standardized container. In scanning mode, the boom extends and takes an upside down "U" shape, sustaining at its inferior end, parallel with the detectors area (10) plan, the penetrant radiation source (9). The scanning system also includes a mobile control center which is positioned outside the exclusion area a and has the role to remotely command all the processes involved in the nonintrusive inspection. The mobile control center has an acquisition, processing, storage and image display subsystem (22). The scanning system includes a perimeter protection subsystem (32) and an automated traffic management subsystem (36). |