ROBOTS ACHIEVE HISTORIC UNMANNED UNDERGROUND MINE INSPECTION
20 January 2022 - 10:20PM
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 ten ADR Explora XL
unmanned robots and a wireless below-ground communication network,
a mobile infrastructure depth of 1.7 kilometers 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. 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. The
solution to achieve this came through the collaboration of ADR,
PBE, and Rajant.
“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
center overseeing the remote surveying done by ADR and its fleet of
all-terrain ground robots equipped with BreadCrumbs. The robots
initially dragged three network infrastructure points into the mine
and then staggered along various routes up to 1.7 Kilometers
deep. During the longest mission, the robots were transmitting
80 Mbps, and included high-definition video and Lidar to create a
virtual 3D model of the mine.”
“ADR keeps a small fleet of robots ready to go for emergencies,
but this was going to require more units with different sensors and
capability,” said Dr. Joe Cronin, Operations Manager and one of the
founders of Australian Droid & Robot. “We quickly built more
robots and undertook a thorough testing regime to imitate the
conditions and distances we would experience in the US. We had
teams all over Brisbane, and at one stage, we had robots strung
across more than one suburb, controlled from a central location.
The robots were shipped to the US less than a month later and were
accompanied by Andre Preller, Head Electronics Engineer and Callum
MacDermid, Senior Robotics Engineer. After a day’s testing on the
surface, the robots entered the mine, each robot relaying the
communications signal to the next, creating a high bandwidth,
daisy-chain network into the mine. A week later, the team had
acquired enough data for the mining team to be able to restart
operations – the only company globally who could assist with the
right equipment in the right timeframe.”
“Before the collapse, PBE was the mines communications
infrastructure provider. When we learned about the need for
unmanned inspection after the collapse, we focused on finding the
best solution for fast, flexible deployment and high performance,”
added Rob Koch, Director of Technology, PBE Group. “The mine needed
a high throughput, flexible data network to support a broad and
changing set of inspection deployments. The Rajant mesh technology
was the clear choice for this need. In execution, the challenge was
to design network elements deployed into the mine by the robots
themselves. We moved quickly to source the best antenna technology
for the robots and backhaul nodes. Then we went onsite to build the
robot deployable nodes and surface network to move data to the
inspection operation center. The network and antenna elements
provided plenty of time to facilitate the inspection event. We are
glad the mine chose PBE on this groundbreaking project to safely
bring the mine back into production using the best technology
available.”
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.
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About Australian Droid and Robot
Queensland technology company Australian Droid and Robot (ADR)
deliver cutting-edge technology to companies right across Australia
and across the world. Taking the world’s best technology and
innovation and adapting and modifying it to meet the needs of
Australian companies and Government agencies, ADR is changing the
way businesses operate. ADR supplies a range of products and
services including:
- Industrial Robotics and Automation;
- Drone and Robot Services; and
- Custom Robot Solutions.
ADR’s approach is ‘Safety by Separation’ - Mining utilises the
Hierarchy of Controls to mitigate risks. If the two most powerful
controls; Elimination and Substitution cannot be relied on and
Engineering and PPE are not relevant, automation and robotics allow
personnel to conduct hazardous tasks remotely. Therefore,
‘Separation’ is a control where personnel and the hazard are
disconnected – they are not in the same place. When this control
fails, no personnel are exposed to a hazard.
About PBE Group
PBE Group is an international manufacturer and systems
integrator in the communications, safety, and power verticals. We
serve the public safety, cellular, tunneling, construction, data
center, and mining sectors, celebrating our 50th anniversary in
2021. PBE Group provides customized adaptive solutions when
reliance on safety and productivity is essential. We integrate our
industry-specific manufactured products and best in class 3rd party
products delivering robust and commercially viable solutions. Our
international growth comes from three main verticals: Power,
Communications & Data, and Safety Products, the essentials of
any industrial project. Our experienced sales, engineering and
production teams have delivered 800 projects in more than 60
countries worldwide. We have a global install base of certified and
warranted power and communications infrastructure, service centers
and highly skilled engineering capabilities. PBE offers hire/lease
as well as direct sales. To learn more, visit PBEgrp.com.
About Rajant Corporation
Rajant Corporation is the broadband communications technology
company that invented Kinetic Mesh® networking, BreadCrumb®
wireless nodes, and InstaMesh® networking software. With Rajant,
customers can rapidly deploy a highly adaptable and scalable
network that leverages the power of real-time data to deliver
on-demand, mission-critical business intelligence. A low-latency,
high-throughput, and secure solution for a variety of data, voice,
video, and autonomous applications, Rajant’s Kinetic Mesh networks
provide industrial customers with full mobility, allowing them to
take their private network applications and data anywhere. With
successful deployments in more than 70 countries for customers in
military, mining, ports, rail, oil & gas, petrochemical plants,
municipalities, and agriculture. Rajant is headquartered in
Malvern, Pennsylvania, with additional facilities and offices in
Arizona and Kentucky. For more information, visit Rajant.com or
follow Rajant on LinkedIn and Twitter.
- Robotic Intervention on Behalf of Human Safety & Job
Restoration
Alice DiSanto
Rajant Corporation
914-582-8464
adisanto@rajant.com