Abstract Proposal: CMS 97-00128 PI: Roman D. Hryciw, University of Michigan "In-Situ Soil Characterization by Vision Cone Penetrometer" The objective of this research program is the development of computer vision methods for in-situ soil characterization. Continuous subsurface images are obtained by a recently developed Vision-Cone Penetrometer (V-CPT). From the digitally acquired images the grain size distribution of the soil will be determined. A number of possible vision approaches will be investigated to accomplish this task. They include edge detection schemes such as Hough transforms along with active contouring, linear scanning, and textural analysis. Visual observation of the soil would provide a continuous and unambiguous assessment of soil type and stratigraphy. As such, in-situ observation by the proposed Subsurface Vision Probe would be highly desirable. The research program includes continued improvement of V-CPT hardware by inclusion of state-of-the-art digital video recording; development of the previously described vision techniques; and field testing both on the University of Michigan campus and the Northwestern University National Geotechnical Experimentation Site. ****
