Oerad Concretto User manual

USER
MANUAL
Wall Penetrating Radar
Concretto
Full System

Safety Information
Thank you for purchasing this Oerad equipment. Please read this User Manual
carefully before connecting, operating or adjusting this product.
Electromagnetic radiation from GPR systems manufactured by Oerad Tech Ltd
do not constitute a safety or health hazard under normal operating
conditions.
WARNING
To reduce the risk of fire or annoying interference use only the recommended accessories
and do not disassemble this product’s modules. There are no user serviceable parts inside.
CAUTION
Danger of explosion if battery is incorrectly replaced. Replace only with the same or
equivalent type recommended by the manufacturer. Dispose of batteries according to the
manufacturer’s instructions.
Information on Disposal
For private households: Information on Disposal for
Users of WEEE
This symbol on the product and/or accompanying documents means
that used electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) should not be
mixed with general household waste. For proper treatment, recovery
and recycling, please take this product to designated collection points
where it will be collected free of charge. Alternatively, in some
countries, you may be able to return your product to your local retailer upon purchase of an
equivalent new product.
Disposing of this product correctly will help save valuable resources and prevent any
potential negative effects on human health and the environment, which could otherwise
arise from inappropriate waste handling.
Please contact your local authority for further details of your nearest designated collection
point.
Penalties may be applicable for incorrect disposal of this waste, in accordance with your
national legislation.
For professional users in the EU
If you wish to discard electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), please contact your dealer
or supplier for further information.
For disposal in countries outside of the EU
This symbol is only valid in the European Union. If you wish to discard this product please
contact your local authority or dealer and ask for the correct method of disposal.
Please note that the actual controls and components, menu items, etc.
of your Ground Penetrating Radar may look somewhat different from
those shown in the illustrations in this User Manual.

This user manual contains the following sections:
I. Before You Start
II. Contents
III. Technical Specifications
IV. System Parts
V. Assembly
VI. Hardware Interface
VII. Software Interface
VIII. Startup & Calibration
IX. Survey
X. Read File
XI. Working Conditions
XII. Glossary
XIII. Dielectrics Cheat Sheet
What Concretto is
The Concretto is an Ultra-Wideband (UWB) shielded pulsed Wall
Probing Radar (WPR) for non-destructive imaging of subsurface
structures. It comprises of a transmitter and receiver boards and
antennae, a controller board and a distance measurement device. The
Concretto system is designed and manufactured by Oerad Ltd.
What Concretto is used for
The Concretto has a wide variety of usages including but not limited to
underground utility detection, non-destructive concrete structure
analysis, rebar detection, road inspection, cracks and faults localiza-
tion in concrete and asphalt structures, wire and pipe mapping in
buildings, etc. It is designed to withstand the harsh conditions of
construction sites.

Frequency Bandwidth
Central Frequency
Operating Time Windows
Dynamic Range
Horizontal Resolution
Vertical Resolution
Pulse Repetition Frequency
Pulse Length
Pulse Energy
Pulse Rise Time
Peak Tx Power @ antenna
Power Consumption
Batteries
Autonomy with One Charge
Charge Time
ADC Range
Data Acquisition Rate
Samples Per Trace
GPR Interface
Operating Temperature Range
Water Resistance
Size
Weight
200 MHz - 4000 MHz
2000 MHz
7.5 ns / 14 ns
120 dB min
0.001 m
0.001 m
1 MHz
600 ps
30 V
200 ps
3 W
110 mAh
10x900 mAh NiMH 1.2 V
8 h
1.5 h
8 bits
18.2 traces/second
585
UART over USB
- 5º C to 40º C
IP 52
14.5x20x8 cm
1 kg

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1. Concretto WPR Main Module
2. Handle
3. Extension stand
4. Extension handle head
5. Extension handle
6. Short Assembly bolts x 3
(for extension stand)
7. Long Assembly bolts x 3
(for extension handle)

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1. Secure handle position
with two short bolts.
2. Secure handle extension
stand with three short
bolts.
3. Attach extension head
to the handle extension
hand either vertically or
horizontally. Secure with
two long bolts.
4. Attach extension
handle.

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1. Battery level indicator:
•Green - battery full;
•Yellow - battery medium level;
•Red - battery getting low;
•Red blinking - you need to recharge your WPR.
2. Sockets for handle and extension handle stand.
3. Indication of horizontal centre of emitted wave.
4. Indication of vertical centre of emitted wave.
5. Charger socket with waterproof cap.
6. Power switch.
7. USB Data cable socket.

General Information
�Make sure all cables are securely connecting the GPR and the tablet.
�Grant all permissions to Oerad App via your Android’s ‘Settings >
Applications > Oerad > Permissions’ menu.
�In order to avoid battery drainage and unnecessary signal transmis-
sion, turn off your GPR and disconnect it from your tablet when finished
surveying.
�For further details on technical specification requirements, how to
download, install and configure the Oerad App, please refer to the app’s
user manual available at https://oerad.eu/software .
Operating Modes
�Survey
Real time data visualization and recording. Live filter application.
�Open File
Viewing recorded files and filter apply data filters to files.
�Settings
Recording options. Set radar as Concretto and choose your preferred
distance measurement units. Manage dielectric constants.

Startup
• Assemble your system as shown in the Assembly section of this user
manual.
• Attach all cables to GPR and Android device.
• Start up the Oerad Android app.
• Press the power switch on the GPR. Your GPR is running when the
power level diodes light up.
Calibration
• Prepare a 1 or 2 meter long flat surface marking its beginning and
end.
• Place GPR at beginning and start it up.
• Navigate to the Calibration menu in the Oerad app via settings or on
its initial start up screen.
• Press Start and allow the Oerad App access to the USB device if
prompted.
• When you reach the end of the surface press Stop and then Save
• Your distance measuring wheel is now calibrated.
• The step indicator shows you how many steps in the wheel encoder
have been registered. If this value does not change when moving,
reconnect the GPR and turn the power switch off and on again.
Calibrate Wheel Menu

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1. Survey parameters toggle - open / close the
parameters menu on the left.
2. Pause / Resume survey.
3. Time window toggle - toggles between the GPR
short and long operational time windows.
4. Apply background removal filter. It is recom-
mended to have this filter on.
5. Record a SEG-Y or ERAD file for later viewing.
6. Take a screenshot of the current scene, saved as
JPEG.
7. Hardware gain controller at five levels. Used to
amplify the signal when the material does not
allow good signal penetration.
8. Software gain control at five zones of the wave.
Allows amplifying the signal locally at points of
interest and reducing the signal strength
elsewhere to reduce noise. -:reduce amplitude;
+:amplify signal; x1.0:amplification factor;
green bar:amplification factor.
9. Y-Axis showing penetration depth expressed in
nanoseconds or meters/feet.
10. Radargram streaming live data from the GPR.
Double tap anywhere on it to pause/resume
surveying.
11. Update radargram on movement is only
applicable to devices supporting a distance
measuring wheel.
12. Apply Background removal filter. It is recom-
mended to have this filter on.
13. Background removal strength toggle. It is
recommended to have it set higher when moving
slower or over greater distances.
14. Material dielectric helps calculate the pe-
netration depth based on the surveyed material.
15. Change palettes to optimize anomaly
detection.
16. Switch between nanoseconds or meters/feet
as penetration depth measurement units.

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1. Open new file. Files generated by Oerad are
usually located in main storage in folder Oerad.
2. Apply background removal filter. It is
recommended to view files with this feature
turned on.
3. Export file to SEG-Y file format.
4. Take a screenshot of the current scene, saved as
JPEG.
5. Y-Axis showing penetration depth of the re-
corded file in ns or in meters/feet.
6. Progress bar showing your current position
within the file.
7. X-axis showing distance data when files are
recorded with a distance measuring wheel. This
feature is not yet available to Dipolo systems.
8. Radargram of the recorded sounding data. Tap
and swipe right to navigate to the end of the file.
Tap and swipe left to navigate to the beginning of
the file.
9. Change palette of displayed file.
10. Change the penetration depth measurement
unit displayed in the Y-axis.
11. Apply Background removal filter. It is
recommended to view files with this feature
turned on.
12. General information about recorded file.
Includes: Operator, Location, Date of record;
Dielectric constant of surveyed material; Device
used for surveying; Time window at time of
survey; Trace count in file; X & Y for files recorded
with a distance measuring device.

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1. Ground / soil /
concrete, etc.
2. Air.
3. Direction of
movement.
4. Typical signal
from a Concretto
WPR.
5. Vertical centre of
the emitted wave.
6. Horizontal centre
of the emitted
wave.
7. Detected object.
8. Minimal
horizontal distance
between objects to
be detected
separately: 0.15 m
(depending on
target depth)
9. Minimal vertical
distance between
objects to be
detected separately:
0.02 m
•Objects such as cellular towers, power lines or other EM wave emitting devices
may cause interferences in the signal. This may result in radargram deteriora-
tion.
•Concretto is suitable for levelled materials and terrains where the back wheels
can touch the surface simultaneously.
•Concretto needs to be calibrated to be used with distance measuring enabled.
It can also be used with time-domain signal update, i.e. without a wheel.
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Hz - Hertz, measurement unit for
frequency.
Radio Wave - Electromagnetic
wave with frequency ranging
from 30Hz to 300GHz. For GPR
from 10MHz up to 3GHz.
Radar - A system that uses radio
waves to detect objects. Main
components & signal flow:
Transmitter ->Transmission ante-
nna -> Receiver Antenna -> Recei-
ver data processor.
Frequency Bandwidth - The
spectrum of the radar’s transmit-
ted radio waves’ frequencies.
Central Frequency - Trasmitted
waves at peak power (usually the
centre of the frequency
spectrum).
UWB - Ultra Wide Band radar
that transmits over a frequency
bandwidth > 500MHz.
GPR & Time-domain GPR - State-
of-the-art high resolution radar
with low power consumption.
Survey Sounding - The act of
using GPR technology for object
detection/determination.
Radargram - Image produced by a
radar.
SEG-Y - General purpose file
format for recording geophysical
data from 1973.
ERAD - Oerad’s open radar for-
mat optimized for small data
storage.
Time Window - Operational
window of the receiver antenna.
Penetration Depth - Theoretical
maximum depth achieved during
a given time window and a
material’s dielectric constant.
Dielectric Constant - Measure of
a material’s ability to store elec-
trical energy in an electric field.
Attenuation - Reduction in GPR
signal amplitude caused by
energy dissipation in a material.
Dynamic Range - Ratio b/n the
max amplitude signal recordable
by GPR and its noise floor.
GPR Trace - Sequence of sample
points collected by the receiver
that indicate time variation of
the amplitude of the recorded
signal (in a given time window).
Resolution - Smallest detectable
difference/object in a surveyed
material/soil/wall.
Gain - Signal amplification.
Background Removal - Adaptive
cancellation of the effects of a
surveyed material.
DC Drift - Low frequency noise
causing the signal to drift from
the centre line.
Pulse - Energy packet emitted
from the transmitter antenna. Its
properties are length, power and
rise time - a measurement of how
fast a pulse achieves peak power.

The max depth of EM waves in the frequency range 10MHz - 1GHz:
where D - max depth; t - time window; Ɛ- dielectric constant.

Oerad Tech Ltd
Svoboda 69E, Plovdiv 4000, Bulgaria
https://oerad.info
[email protected]
(+39) 392.92.07.751
Italy