| Added on 02/01/2012 | Tool (Decay) |
Picus Sonic Tomograph
The Picus Sonic Tomograph is made by a German company called Argus-Electronic-Gmbh. It is a specialised electronic instrument which can 'look' internally into a branch or tree trunk and display a computer generated image of its condition. It achieves this by measuring the speed that sound travels through the wood in a number of different positions and directions. Sound travels fastest through solid wood. Decayed wood will slow its path. By measuring the speed that sound takes to pass through a tree, an idea of its condition can be obtained.
The sounds are generated manually by tapping on a number of metal nails with a hammer. Special sensors fixed around the stem read the interval the sound takes to travel through the wood. Once all nails have been tapped, and recordings taken, the computer software works out a visual image (see below).
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The system looks like it will prove very useful as a means of assessing internal decay due to its relatively non-invasive method (but it still requires insertion of the nails into the sap wood). The Picus web site contains a number of pictures and describes the process in greater detail (in English).
The equipment is distributed in the UK by Fujikura. Prices (at 1/3/03) are £7295+vat for the Picus 10 (10 probes) and £7995+vat for the Picus 12 (12 probes). The software runs on a notebook PC (Pentium 200 MHz or higher) or a iPAQ H3970 which Fujikura can also supply.
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