Capture of images in inaccessible areas in an underground mine using an unmanned aerial vehicle

Abstract

Underground operation is a complex mining method where safety, stability, and ore recovery issues, among other factors, could be an obstacle to operations. In most cases, a simple review of the site could help engineers to understand and solve the problems. To create this overview, many types of images captured were considered. The non-entry mining method used at Cuiabá mine does not allow people to enter the stopes after blasting. The only way to obtain images after blasting is by using drones or other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) fitted with cameras. The difficulties for this type of project include lighting, high-definition image capture, and access. Remote access in areas mined by the sublevel method at the Cuiabá mine is only possible with a UAV that is equipped with technology that can film with effective illumination. In addition, the equipment should be able to fly without the aid of GPS, fly at variable low speed to withstand small shocks with the rock wall and support elements, and often fly without visual contact with the pilot. Furthermore, the UAV controls must be easy enough for mine site employees to use with limited training and knowledge of aeronautics. For this purpose, a hybrid equipment was designed, using a helium gas filled balloon, with remote controlled quadcopter propellers, powerful LED lighting, rechargeable batteries, remote controlled cameras, image stabiliser, and radio frequency transmitters for control and image visualisation. A number of other solutions have been customised in the device to avoid problems inherent in mine operation. In countless trails, the UAV presented images that helped the local team change projects, reconsider pillar sizes, find ore trapped inside the stopes, and identify other important situations allowing an increase in safety and production.

A Comprehensive Review of Applications of Drone Technology in the Mining Industry

“…Drones in underground mines have numerous potential applications in health and safety. These applications include surface roughness mapping, rock mass stability analysis, ventilation modeling, hazardous gas detection, and leakage monitoring [32,[63][64][65][66][67][68]].…”

Signal-Based Self-Organization of a Chain of UAVs for Subterranean Exploration

“…Flying robots (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles-UAVs) are a promising alternative to ground robots for subterranean operations (Freire and Cota, 2017;Preston and Roy, 2017;Rogers et al, 2017;Jones et al, 2019;Mansouri et al, 2019). As they fly, they are not impaired by obstacles or liquid on the floor.…”

“…Most of the work about subterranean exploration has been focused on a single wheeled or tracked robot (Morris et al, 2006) that is coupled with a SLAM algorithm to build a 3-D map (Thrun et al, 2004). Single UAVs are, however, increasingly tested in mines and they show promising results (Freire and Cota, 2017;Preston and Roy, 2017;Jones et al, 2019;Mansouri et al, 2019). They have, for instance, been deployed by many teams during the DARPA Subterranean Challenge (https://www.…”

Signal-based self-organization of a chain of UAVs for subterranean exploration

“…637972, project ResiBots) and the ANR/DGA ASTRID project "Proxilearn". 1 Universit de Technologie de Compigne (UTC), France 2 Inria, CNRS, Université de Lorraine, LORIA, Nancy F-54000, France 3 Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, ISM, Marseille F-13009, France 4 Université de Lorraine, CNRS, LORIA, Nancy F-54000, France Corresponding author: jean-baptiste.mouret@inria.fr subterranean environments [8], [9]. In particular, a typical signal such as the Crazyflie's 2.4GHz radio miniature system does not penetrate large amount of rocks and even bounces in metallic pipes.…”