Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

Over the years, mine incidents have resulted in numerous deaths and injuries. These incidents have triggered many occupational safety Acts in Canada and abroad with the objective to develop the technology to help avert, or at least mitigate, future mine tragedies. The most important aspect of such Acts is providing reliable communication, which has always been a challenge in underground mines due to changing topologies and harsh environments, for miners before and after tragic incidents. In addition, disasters bring down electricity and communications cables, block tunnels and cause fire. These may damage the communication infrastructure, hampering rescue efforts and endangering lives. Survivable solutions using advanced communication and sensor network technologies have to be in place to handle the situation. The objective of this proposal, in partnership with Mine Radio Systems (MRS) Inc., is to research, design and develop a highly reliable underground wireless network that will ensure miners' safety before and after disasters. The proposed system will be capable of (1) providing highly reliable wireless communications in mines during the normal course of operation (2) self-monitoring, optimization and diagnosis in order to detect and predict impending failures and improve reliability (3) maintaining mine-wide operational integrity after an incident such as a mine fire, roof fall or explosion and (4) supporting radio frequency identification (RFID) based tracking and locating services for miners and assets before and after incidents. The prominent feature of the proposed network will be having an independent monitoring sensor network that will help with system optimization, preventive maintenance, disaster prediction/avoidance and recovery. The proposed highly reliable wireless network will enhance the safety and security of miners in Canada by maximizing the benefits of communication, failure detection and tracking technologies.