Mining Robotics Sensors
J J Green1, K Hlophe2, J Dickens3, R Teleka4, M Price5
1Jeremy J Green, Center for Mining Innovation, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Johannesburg, South Africa.
2Khonzi Hlophe, Center for Mining Innovation, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Johannesburg, South Africa.
3John Dickens, Center for Mining Innovation, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Johannesburg, South Africa.
4Ruth Teleka, Center for Mining Innovation, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Johannesburg, South Africa.
5Mathew Price. Cogency, Cape Town, South Africa.
Manuscript received on March 02, 2012. | Revised Manuscript received on March 23, 2012. | Manuscript published on April 30, 2012. | PP: 8-15 | Volume-1 Issue-4, April 2012 | Retrieval Number: D0231031412/2012©BEIESP

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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Abstract: Underground mining robotics has not enjoyed the same technology advances as above-ground mining. This paper examines sensing technologies that could enable the development of underground autonomous vehicles. Specifically, we explore a combination of three-dimensional (3D) cameras (SR 4000 and XBOX Kinect) and a thermal imaging sensor (FLIR A300) in order to create 3D thermal models of narrow mining stopes. This information can be used in determining the risk of rock fall in an underground mine, which is a major cause of fatalities in underground narrow-reef mining. Data are gathered and processed from multiple underground mine sources, and techniques such as surfel modeling and synthetic view generation are explored towards creating visualizations of the data that could be used by miners to monitor areas of risk in the stope. Further work will determine this potential.
Keywords: Underground mining robotics, Perception sensors, Sensor fusion, Infrared camera, 3D laser scan.