Hardware Design for In-Mine Positioning System

This thesis describes the hardware design of a §positioning system which locates a vehicle relative §to a digital map of an underground mine. The mines §of interest arepotash mines of Saskatchewan, and §they are at a depth of approximately 1000 meters and §they cover an area larger than 10 kilometers by 10 §kilometers. An important application of an in-mine §positioning system is tracking a ground penetrating §radar system. Ground penetrating radar is used to §determine the current condition of the mine ceiling §and to evaluate its risk of delamination. A ground §penetrating radar system is driven along a mine §tunnel and measurements are logged. It is necessary §to record position information along with the radar §signal and this can be done with the aid of a §positioning system.§§The design and evaluation of the hardware system §that supports a positioning system, which can locate §a vehicle inside a mine tunnel with reasonable §accuracy and cost is described here. The §hardware system includes a dead reckoning system, §which is built using MEMS accelerometerand gyroscope §sensors and ultrasonic distance sensors, along with §a data acquisition system.