KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 21 (Bernama) -- Rajant Corporation, the exclusive provider of Kinetic Mesh® wireless networks, and its technology partners Australian Droid and Robot (ADR) and PBE Group, have completed the deepest remote underground mine inspection in history.
Using 10 ADR Explora XL unmanned robots and a wireless below-ground communication network, a mobile infrastructure depth of 1.7 kilometres was achieved to enable the reestablishment of operations at a collapsed limestone mine and restore jobs.
A significant, unexpected mine collapse occurred in August 2021 causing an expulsion of air carrying dirt and rocks that flew out of all portals and ventilation raises. The air was estimated to be moving around 120 mph.
It was determined that this collapse was caused by the failure of very old pillars (40 to 70 years old) thus creating a substantive surface subsidence. The surface subsidence measured approximately 800’ (ft) across and over 100’ (ft) deep, according to a statement.
No one was injured in the incident, as the mine had been evacuated well prior to the incident. Working with the Mining Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), the operator and MSHA determined no one should enter the mine until some type of unmanned survey could be conducted to assess the conditions of the mine safely.
“Prior to the collapse, the mine had a two-way radio system running over a leaky feeder,” shared Rajant Sales Director Todd Rigby.
“The leaky feeder was not functional following the collapse, nor did it have sufficient bandwidth to support unmanned robots or drones.
“Rajant BreadCrumbs® were installed by Rajant’s channel partner PBE mostly at the surface of the mine to provide a reliable high bandwidth link from the portal to an emergency operations centre overseeing the remote surveying done by ADR and its fleet of all-terrain ground robots equipped with BreadCrumbs.”
A video case study documenting the achievement is available. The mine intends to implement a mine-wide Kinetic Mesh network.
In the future, if they were ever to have an issue of instability, they can simply run a single ADR robot into the mine using the preexisting network infrastructure, protecting the sanctity of worker safety and uninterrupted productivity.
-- BERNAMA
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