Mobile laser scanning based 3D technology for mineral environment modeling and positioning

The laser scanning based mobile mapping technology has been extensively investigated in academia in last two decades. It has been fully accepted by some traditional industries, such as surveying and forestry. However, for other traditional industries, the potential applications with such a high efficient, high speed 3D modeling technology are still underestimated. In this paper, we try to investigate the possibility of using such technology in coal mining - a typical soft rock mineral environment related application. 2D mapping accuracy in coal mine is preliminary evaluated, and the accuracy is approximately 5 cm under practical operation condition, and 3D modeling capability is also examined with generated point cloud, bars with width less than 5 cm can be modeled. Even though the tests are carried out in a soft rock coal mine, the results of this research can also be applied on other hard rock mineral environment without major modification.