MST mining engineer Denis Kent said the ACARP-funded project, Proximity Detection System Underground, is necessary because conditions in underground mines are so different that specialised technology is needed to improve traffic safety.

 

“It's confined space, so you're passing pedestrians – unless they're actually near intersections, they haven't got anywhere to go,” Kent said.

 

“Especially some of the larger vehicles, or those that are carrying something in front of them on a set of forklifts, their vision's quite restricted, so that there's a lot of blind spots on the machine.

 

“People will put themselves accidentally in darkness without realising … it's to help alert someone that someone's approaching, in case they haven't seen them.”

 

Kent said the MST aims to adapt its existing underground tracking system, which fits underground miners with RFID tags that give out a signal to receivers located in different zones within the mine.

 

Initial trials of the technology have been carried out on man transports, such as PJBs and the Eimco loaders.

 

“The idea is, if we've got these miners all tagged, if we could build a receiver and processing device that could fit on vehicles we'd be able to pick them up as they approach a vehicle,” Kent said.

 

“The aim is that we'll be able to pick them up in two zones. The first zone will be what we call our outer zone, which when we're done will be anywhere from 60 to 120 metres away, even around the corner for about 20 to 30 metres … the driver will get a low level alert.

 

“Then, as we get close to it, we have an inner zone which we can set from anywhere from about five metres to 18 metres quite precisely, and that's when you could have a higher level alert."

 

One of the problems now facing MST is figuring out the best way to alert the drivers of underground vehicles. Kent said it was important to find a way to give drivers positive feedback or control, as there was a risk they would get desensitised to warning lights and buzzers.

 

“What we're trying to deliver is something that will just give them another control mechanism to reduce the risks of these incidents occurring," Kent said.

 

MST's Proximity Detection System Underground project has support from Xstrata Coal and Centennial Coal.