UNDR ~ UnderSea Recovery Corporation - ATLIS®
ATLIS® Search Technology
ATLIS® Overview
ATLIS®(Acousto-Electrical Transceiver for Localized Induction Sensing) is a one-of-a-kind remote-sensing proprietary technology used in the marine environment to detect nonferrous metals. Currently, ATLIS® has received five (5) patents pertaining to critical aspects of the overall technology. ATLIS® can detect gold, silver and other precious metals in salt-water environments and has been designed primarily for use in regions where the water is shallow (i.e., where the depth is up to 300 feet). Of the many thousands of historic shipwrecks lost since the early 1500s, it is estimated that most went down in shallow water locations within ten miles from shore.
The development of the ATLIS® technology has involved a proof-of-concept unit; a tank-test unit and a field-test unit; and now UnderSea Recovery has two current ATLIS® models (both almost 90% completed) - 1st generation operational field units - which are “diver-deployed.” Briefly, these models transmit cone-shaped electromagnetic fields at frequencies that penetrate sand, silt, coral, rock, and wood to a depth of about five feet. The wide bottom-end of the cone will cover an area having a 5-foot diameter and any precious metals within this area will be detected by ATLIS® and rapidly analyzed by specially configured computers and accompanying software.
Plans are also underway to build more powerful 2nd and 3rd generation models affording greater penetration and bottom coverage area. These later generations of ATLIS® will be towed from behind a ship, or incorporated in or attached to ROVs (remotely operated vehicles) and AUVs (autonomous underwater vehicles), significantly enhancing the search process and reducing the time needed to begin recovery operations. UnderSea Recovery, at its sole expense, will be responsible for developing, funding and building these enhanced, later generation models.
The capabilities of the 1st Generation ATLIS® are best applied in projects such as in the Caribbean and other areas of the world where ship’s routes passed through hazardous areas and wrecks had a tendency to congregate in these shallow and dangerous passages.
In these situations there are multiple wrecks, sometimes hundreds that can be found with conventional technology. The problem is separating which ones to excavate. ATLIS® units give the Company a viable ability to determine which sites have precious metals and which do not. As stated above, all subsequent generations of ATLIS® will have increasing capabilities and applications.
With this remote-sensing information, UnderSea Recovery can better design and apply archaeologically and environmentally sound methods for recovery of precious metals and other valuable materials within historic shipwreck sites. Even when gold and silver is detected, if quantities are insignificant and not commensurate with the projected cost of recovery, we have the option of moving to targets where amounts of precious metals justify our recovery operations. This ability of ATLIS® to precisely detect the location of precious metals is what makes our technology so unique and highly valuable for the company and its shareholders.
UnderSea Recovery is currently developing a special ROV that, when completed, will be unlike any in existence, and will be ideal for deploying ATLIS® in all shallow water projects.
ATLIS® Licensing Agreement
To pursue the mission of searching for and recovering marine artifacts and bullion, UnderSea Recovery has signed a licensing agreement with Admiralty Corporation for its ATLIS® technology. Under this agreement, UnderSea Recovery, at its sole expense, will complete the two first generation ATLIS® field units. UnderSea Recovery will retain full posession of any and all improvements and/or patents that it conceives while building and using these and any future ATLIS® units and related technologies. UnderSea Recovery, at is sole expense, will undertake shipwreck search and recovery projects. In return for the licensing agreement, Admiralty Corporation will receive ten percent (10%) of the net revenues UnderSea Recovery receives from its successful recoveries as a direct result of UnderSea Recovery’s use of the ATLIS® technology.
ATLIS® Technology Patents
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued five patents covering various aspects of the ATLIS® technology. These are listed below.
Patent # 6,724,191 issued April 20, 2004 - Systems and methods useful for detecting presence and/or location of various materials
The present invention provides systems and methods, which can be employed to locate or detect presence of various materials, including nonferrous metals. These systems include new and useful sensors, circuits, systems and devices, which power and/or interoperate with the sensors, and methods of making, operating and using such systems. Any or all of the systems, devices or processes can be combined with other systems, devices or processes disclosed. This first patent covers the use of multiple frequencies and multiple sensors to enhance the detection and classification of conductive and magnetic materials. It covers only part of the detection system pertaining to reducing the primary field that masks the signal from the object to be detected. This allows for much greater detection sensitivity while using a long time signal to enhance discrimination between different materials. This is important since the primary field usually masks or distorts signals from the object.
Patent # 7,123,016 issued October 17, 2006 - Systems and methods useful for detecting presence and / or location of various materials
The present invention provides systems and methods, which can be employed to locate or detect presence of various materials, including nonferrous metals. These systems include new and useful sensors, circuits, systems and devices, which power and/or interoperate with the sensors, and methods of making, operating and using such systems. Any or all of the systems, devices or processes can be combined with other systems, devices or processes disclosed. This second patent is an addition to the first patent which covers techniques to increase the sensitivity of the system by shaping the transmitter field in the proximity of the sensors to further reduce the signal masking caused by the transmitter’s signal. This is a major advantage when trying to discriminate between different materials. This patent also includes coding the transmitted signal so that external noise sources caused by electric currents in the earth or atmosphere can be eliminated. It further covers using switched capacitors to efficiently generate a high power signal for the transmitter. These power techniques can be adapted to other systems requiring high power complex electrical drive signals.
Patent # 7,126,323 issued October 24, 2006 - Systems and methods for synchronous detection of signals
Systems and processes for synchronous demodulation of signals in detection contexts in order to improve frequency, magnitude and/or phase response over pulsed signal methods. According to a preferred embodiment, a return signal is demodulated for the time corresponding to when its corresponding transmitting signal has been discontinued or has fallen below a certain level. Multiple transmission frequencies, transmitters, and or sensors, among other things, may be used. The third patent is not related to the first two patents. It covers a method of combining the assets of pulsed and continuous transmitted signals to improve the system detection. This technique is designed to get the highest level of return signal with the lowest masking by the transmitter signal. This allows for the best possible combination of system sensitivity and system discrimination. This technique has applications to many types of detection systems including but not limited to: RADAR, LIDAR, and SONAR as well as combinations of these systems with other types of detection systems.
Patent # 7,355,409 issued April 8, 2008 - Systems and methods useful for detecting presence and / or location of various materials
The present invention provides systems and methods, which can be employed to locate or detect presence of various materials, including nonferrous metals. These systems include new and useful sensors, circuits, systems and devices, which power and/or interoperate with the sensors, and methods of making, operating and using such systems. Any or all of the systems, devices or processes can be combined with other systems, devices or processes disclosed. The fourth patent is ancillary to the first two patents and covers additional techniques to increase the sensitivity of the system. The main point covered is the use of a synchronized clock to generate the system signals. This method allows very precise timing measurements to be made between the transmitter signal and the signal coming from the objects. The precision of these timing measurements determines how well the signal from different materials can be separated. The patent also covers another technique to increase the sensitivity of the system by reducing the effects of environmental noise by phase shifting time segments of the transmitted signal. It also covers two techniques to help generate higher power in the transmitter by using pulse width modulation to generate and shape the transmitted signal, and using multiple resonant filters to increase the efficiency of powering the system’s transmitter. As with the second patent, these power techniques can be adapted to other systems requiring high power, complex electrical drive signals.
Patent # 7,705,598 B2 issued April 27, 2010 - Systems and methods useful for detecting presence and / or location of various materials
The fifth patent is an addition to the first, second, and fourth patents and covers additional techniques to increase the sensitivity of the system. There are two main techniques covered in this patent. The first covers the use of synchronous pulse width modulation techniques to generate the transmitted signal. This method allows for the use of higher power while maintaining the precise timing necessary for accurate synchronous phase detection. The second covers the use of active field shaping and field dampening methods used to reduce the self-field and self-field gradient at the sensors. This greatly increases the sensitivity of the system by reducing the effects of system generated interference and background spatially consistent environmental noise including that caused by the search vessel and divers using the system. As with the other patents these techniques can be adapted to other systems requiring precision sensing in the vicinity of high power interference and/or from complex signals. This invention covers techniques for increasing the sensitivity of the ATLIS system. The earth has a background magnetic field and creates magnetic field noise that is many times greater than the signal from the objects that UnderSea Recovery desires to detect. In addition shipwreck search vessels, as well as divers and their equipment, generate extraneous magnetic fields and magnetic field noise. The powerful transmitter used in the ATLIS system also creates a magnetic field that is many times larger than that due to the objects sought. In order to be able to detect the location of the objects sought, the ATLIS system must compensate for and/or eliminate these magnetic fields that otherwise would completely mask many of the objects' signals. The Patent covers and protects the techniques necessary to eliminate these potentially interfering fields so that the objects sought can be detected. Without these patented techniques, the sensitivity of the basic ATLIS system would be greatly reduced, as would its ability to discriminate between and among different materials in a marine environment. till remain today.
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