ACT president Steve Barrett told ILN that the company had just installed seven additional nodes and associated network equipment for an undisclosed underground operation to help meet its expansion needs, just weeks after the initial installation was completed. The additional infrastructure is now in place, making it a 57-node system.
“ActiveMine's plug-and-play installation makes it easy and cost-effective for our customers to expand their underground wireless networks," noted Barrett, who said that the large system may be the largest underground mesh network anywhere.
ACT said the mine had both faces backed up with redundant nodes that covered both the primary and secondary escapeways. The network also encompasses the mine’s above-ground yard and all support buildings.
“The first five wireless hops are shared by both arms of the network, with one arm extending an additional 18 hops and the other an additional 12 hops. To the longest point, the wireless signal travels over a total of 23 hops,” Barrett said, explaining that hops were signal transmissions from one node to the next.
“ActiveMine's network has been designed to support at least 100 wireless hops and hundreds of nodes, enabling voice communications – the critical mining application for both safety and productivity – in very large mines.”
That is key, ACT noted, because other Wi-Fi mesh technologies may not be able to support voice transmission after more than five to six hops, whereas ActiveMine can handle many while remaining distortion-free.
Barrett also told ILN he anticipated “in all likelihood” that the mine would expand its needs again in the future.
“At most mines, distances underground lengthen as mine faces advance [and] often, new mine faces are added as well,” he said.
“This requires additional nodes to cover extended escapeways and new working areas. However, ActiveMine nodes are 100% retrievable and can be redeployed as sections of the mine are completed and new sections are begun.”
He also noted that the mine owner had already signed purchase orders to place ActiveMine systems at several other mines.
ACT helps with ERPs
ACT has made available an Emergency Response Plan template to aid US underground operations that are working to meet the June 15 deadline set by the US Mine Safety and Health Administration for the completion and submission of the plans.
Barrett said the template outlined the information needed for the plan, including a wide range of detail on safety-related measures that are now required under the MINER Act.
“The goal of the template is to assist mine operators in completing their ERPs, especially given that the deadline for filing is fast approaching,” he said, adding that the template was available to any mine at no cost.
“It was completed in the past few weeks and is based on ACT’s knowledge and experience with the MINER Act, MSHA reporting requirements, mine safety plans already required in West Virginia, and mine safety in general.”
