Underground » Mining Technology and Production
With the desire to achieve higher levels of automation in all aspects of underground coal mining, and particularly on the longwall face and in roadway development areas, there is an urgent need for more sensing capability to improve longwall control, machine localisation, roof bolting, personnel tracking, and asset management. Efforts have been made to develop and install many sensor systems such as along face cameras, but these have had slow uptake due to installation difficulties and regulation requirements for flameproof enclosures.
The project did not achieve its objectives as the current limitations of UHF RFID technology made it unsuitable for the intended application. This report documents the system development and research findings and offers several recommendations for future work.
CSIRO proposed a solution to this problem with the development of an intrinsically safe, certified platform for measuring a wide range of mine parameters. This aim of this wireless sensor system was to significantly increase the quality and quantity of information generated in the dynamic areas of the underground mining process, while reducing installation and maintenance costs. This project aimed to develop an intrinsically safe RFID platform that would enable the installation of a range of battery free sensors onto longwalls and other underground mining equipment with minimal effort and cost.
The project designed an inexpensive, low power, zero energy storage, wireless sensor that could be easily installed in any area of the mine. The system utilised Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, where a reader energised an RFID sensor when it was within 5m. The RFID sensor device would then measure one or more parameters and transmit this data, along with its unique identification number back to the reader, before reverting to a dormant mode and dissipating all energy. Sensor units were designed to be very small, self-contained, low profile and sealed to IP66, such that the units could be mounted easily and efficiently as part of standard operating procedures for underground workers. This would minimise the installation time and costs required to install an extensive suite of sensors.