Positioning Systems for Underground Mines

The existence of a hazardous underground mining environment and the potential for roof collapse significantly increase the probability of fatal incidents in underground coal mine (UCM). For the safety of the miners during disasters, it is imperative to adopt a potential and precise underground positioning systems. Due to its challenging, dynamic and semi-structured environment, underground mines require an independent positioning system for determining the locations of miners and machinery. Few available technologies for underground positioning include, electromagnetic wave-based, magnetic induction (MI)-based, and acoustic-based positioning systems. In this paper, an analysis of underground positioning systems is provided. In addition, present research problems in positioning systems are also discussed.