Finding your way around underground in one of South Africa's many mines is a daunting task. Bad, faded or non-existent signage can cause havoc for surveyors and other people who need to know exactly where they are in a mine at a point in time.
One commonly used method of keeping track of where you are is to carry an elaborate map and to match the map to the signage and surveyor markings in the mine. Unfortunately, this is a slow, cumbersome method that can result in sloppy location specifications as people go about their day-to-day jobs. It can even lead to over-paying staff as it is impossible to accurately determine where they are at any particular time; or it can lead to losing track of assets in a maze of underground passages.
Gerrie le Roux, a surveyor at Lonmin Platinum has, in conjunction with technology from Wavetrend, invented a new way to use RFID technology to make working and finding your way underground in mines easier. Lonmin Platinum is the world's third largest platinum producer and runs four mines in South Africa, three in the North West Province near Marikana and one in the Limpopo Province near Polokwane. The company had a market capitalisation of over $3 billion and an annual turnover of over $1 billion for the 2005 financial year.
The solution Le Roux came up with is to use brass surveying tags which are located at specific points in the mine to assist in determining location. By including an active RFID chip pulsing once every second in these tags; it is possible to accurately triangulate someone's location underground.
Of course, locations can not be determined via satellite as with traditional GPS. The underground location system triangulates the location of an individual or an asset via a PDA or tablet PC carried with them. Local RFID company, Wavetrend, provided the software that could interpret the RFID pulse and match it to an electronic map of the mine.
Each RFID tag contains a unique serial number, which is noted when placing the tags and linked to a specific workspace within the mine.
The software acts in a similar fashion to GPS maps commonly found in new cars. In other words, an underground map is displayed on the PDA or tablet PC screen and it moves according to the movements of the person or asset being tracked. People will therefore know exactly where they are; or in cases where someone is sent to repair something, the electronic map will be able to guide the person right to the job and then back out of the mine along the shortest and safest path.
Le Roux adds that the system can be used for much more. In cases of emergencies, a user can easily use a PDA to determine the quickest route to safety. Even in cases of low visibility, instructions normally on the screen can be delivered verbally, making it easy to find a route to safety. What is more, with the sophistication of today's PDAs, training manuals and even video guides can also be included on the devices to guide workers in tasks they are not 100% familiar with.
A pilot project using this new technology is already underway. One section of a Lonmin mine has had 200 tags installed and mine surveyors are testing the efficacy of the system working with 20 PDAs. The testing is not complete, but Le Roux expects the official rollout to start before the end of September 2007.
Getting lost or stranded in deep underground tunnels that run for kilometres does not have to be a reality in South African mines any longer with this new use for RFID technology.
© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd. | All Rights Reserved.
printer friendly version