Mobile Robot in mine Rescue and Recovery

Page 1

MOBILE ROBOT IN MINE RESCUE AND
RECOVERY

ARUNKUMAR.S
Department Of Electronics and Communication
PREETHAM.S
Department Of Electronics and Communication
Shridevi Institute Of Engineering And Technology Sira
Road
Tumkur, India
GRN-ID 1018
Arun2949@gmail.com

Abstract:
Mining accidents have occurred since the early days of mining.
There were a total of 525 mining disasters (incidents with five
or more fatalities) in both coal and metal/nonmetal mines.
Most of these disasters involve mine rescue teams, which are
specially trained to perform search and rescue operations in
extremely hostile environments. Robots have a great potential
to assist in these underground operations, searching ahead of
rescue teams and reporting conditions that may be hazardous
to the teams.
Introduction Here we are designing the prototype
module for Mobile robot in mine to rescue and
recovery on ARM7TDMI-S Platform. Here we have
two modules, Robot module and 2 Base station
modules. Robot module includes the sensors,
wireless camera and Zigbee transceiver which are
mounted on the LPC2148 board. We are sending the
status of the mine through Zigbee protocol to Base
station module.
Problem statement:
Coal mine is a special type of mine which is
dangerous in nature. Such mines will usually be an
underground system which has less number of pit
heads. In case of any accident as given in Table 1, it
will be difficult for people to escape out of the mine.
The dangerous factors that an accident will bring
along are collapse of tunnel,gas explosion, undesired
level of O2, CO and CO2, high temperature, fire
break out, etc. All
these factors can cause human and property loss.
These fatal factors menace people.

After a Coal mine disaster, the situation inside the
mine is not known. Entering into a mine without
knowing the exact situation is dangerous as the
chances of a second explosion is high. Many rescuers
Shridevi Institute Of Engineering And Technology
SiraRoad
Tumkur, India
GRN-ID 1018
Preetham9657@gamil.com

are killed by this second explosion. Detection of the
situation inside the tunnel is of high importance.

The problem in the tunnel is that it is narrow and
rugged. The tunnels middle section has a rail track
and to its one side it has belt transmission and to the
other side it has a narrow path of coal. Due to this the
transmission along the tunnel is a difficult thing. This
is the condition of the normal tunnel. When an
explosion occurs, the situation inside the tunnel
worsens and the conveyance inside the tunnel
becomes really difficult. To overcome such
hazardous situation, a robot can be deployed for
disaster surveillance
Table 1.Statistics Analysis of Death Accident in Coal
Mines

Accident type Occurrence Death count
Gas accidents 3318 492
Cavings 1332 907
Flood Accidents 1111 166
Transportation 261 230
Dust 234 4
Gun fire 58 39
Collapse 57 14
Electricity 40 38

Proposed system:
This robot is radio operated, has all the controls like a
normal car, so that it can control easily and
developing of base design is that it holds the robot in
narrow mode. Wireless camera will send real time
video and audio signals, which could be seen on a
remote monitor, and action can be taken accordingly.
moves in forward direction
Mobile Robot in mine Rescue and Recovery

Page 2

Moves in reverse direction,
Instant reverse or forward running without
stopping.
The required sensors and equipments are installed
in main robot and this are interfaced with main board
and the information is send to the base station using
wireless communication module

Advantages of the proposed system:
Since this project used for monitoring conditions
of mine environment as well as recovery.
Robot can travel in any area having obstacle,
dust, mud road.etc.
The ARM is used so that we can enhance the
features.
Real time info as to be accessed.
Required action as to be taken to avoid spoil of
life.

Technical Feasibility
This is considered with specifying equipment and
software that will successful satisfy the user
requirement the technical needs of the system may
vary considerably but might include
The facility to produce outputs in a given time.
Response time under certain conditions.
Ability to process a certain column of
transaction at a particular speed.

Social Feasibility
An estimate should be made of how strong are action
the user is likely to have towards the development
this software and how it is used successfully in real
time situation.

Methodology:

Fig1: Implementation steps

Literature review:
The staggering data reveals that huge number of
accidents occurs in a coal mine during and after a
disaster. The main reasons being, gas accidents,
caving, flood, etc. This really asks for the
development of a system that can help minimize the
human and material loss that happens during rescue
operations. Gas explosion is the most serious one in
all mine disasters for after the gas explosion, the
scene becomes extremely complex. Thus gas sensors
are mandatory in the robot to be deployed. The idea
of a Mobile Robot to be able to aid the rescue team
entering into a coal mine got picked up with the
tremendous uplift in the field of technology. The
Robot is used to reach the disaster zone and it is used
for rescue and research operations. The robot can go
into explosion environment and detect gas contents,

All time sense
theseparameters
and sends the
report to
main board









It send theinformati
-on frommain board
To basestation

It always monitoring
And capturing the it receivethe information
Images and send to PC frommain board

It display the received
Parameters




LPC2148
Temperature
sensor
Pressure sensor
Humidity
sensor
Gas sensor
IRsensor
Motor drive
Zigbee
Power supply
unit
Video camera
PC TV tuner card
Zigbee
Mobile Robot in mine Rescue and Recovery

Page 3

temperature, etc. The data can be sent to controller in
safe field. The robot is designed in such a way that it
suits the mine tunnel. It can run in explosion
environment, climb over ruins, check gas and if
needed, slot can be provided wherein it can carry
food and first aid kit to the workers trapped inside. A
biped robot was initially tipped to be used in the coal
mines which can move inside the tunnel and has an
RS 232 cable for interfacing. The robot couldnt
transverse a long distance it tripped on moving across
the debris and the RS 232 cables couldnt be used for
a long distance. Thus a different mode of legs had to
be used and after research, the usage of a conveyor
belt type robot was developed. The conveyor belt as
seen on the military tanks would maneuver over
debris and rough terrains. Now, the focus was onto
the means of communication to transfer data and
commands to and fro from computer and robot. In the
earlier days, the robot had RS 232 cables to provide
communication between the robot and the CPU. The
RS-232 as the interface for communication and
control to allow the robot to receive demands from
the user and track objects autonomously. Though the
RS 232 gave creditable communication, it had
several short comings. Due to its limited size, the
robot was not able to move deep into the mine. And
there was the danger of the cables getting twinned or
cut inside the tunnel resulting in loss of data or at
times, it can spark a fire inside the tunnel. A better
way of communication had to be used. The
advancement in technology saw the usage of
Bluetooth for wireless communication. The mobile
robot has the capability to move around
autonomously using complicated and powerful
algorithm. The algorithms are stored in a PC that acts
as a master cum server.


Block diagram:

Robot Module:




Base station Module:



Hardware requirements:
ARM Microprocessor
LPC2148 Microcontroller
Gas sensors
Temp sensor
Humidity sensor
Pressure sensor
Zigbee Transceiver
UV Camera
IR sensor
Software requirements:

Kiel IDE
Flash Utility
Data acquisition
Data acquisition (DAQ) is the process of measuring a
physical phenomenon such as temperature, pressure.
PC-based data acquisition uses a combination of
modular hardware and flexible software to transform
your standard laptop or desktop computer into a user-
defined measurement or control system.
A data acquisition system consists of components
that are integrated to:
Sense physical variables (use of transducers)
Condition the electrical signal
Mobile Robot in mine Rescue and Recovery

Page 4

To make it readable by an A/D board Convert the
signal into a digital format acceptable by a computer
Process analyze and display the acquired data with
the help of software. Sense physical phenomena and
translate it into electric signals.
Examples:
Temperature
Pressure
Gas
Humidity



Fig2: Data acquisition
The ability to move real-time signals (i.e. Sensors...)
from the hardware into the Personal Computer (PC)
enables significant analysis to take place. It can
provide you with a cost effective single for your data
measuring application. We can take it beyond the
data acquisition phase and also provide
comprehensive instrumentation, signal and data
processing tools
Data acquisition technique: Data
acquisition and control systems need to get real-
world signals into the computer. These signals come
from a diverse range of instruments and sensors, and
each type of signal needs special consideration. This
page highlights points to think about, and should help
you identify the most suitable interface for your
measurements.
HARDWARE DESCRIPTION
ARM7TDMI-S (LPC2148):
The LPC2148 microcontrollers are based on a 16-
bit/32-bit ARM7TDMI-S CPU with real-time
emulation and embedded trace support, that combine
microcontroller with embedded high speed flash
memory ranging from 32 kB to 512 kB. A 128-bit
wide memory interface and unique accelerator
architecture enable 32-bit code execution at the
maximum clock rate. For critical code size
applications, the alternative 16-bit Thumb mode
reduces code by more than 30 % with minimal
performance penalty .Due to their tiny size and low
power consumption, LPC2148 are ideal for
applications where miniaturization is a key
requirement, such as access control and point-of-
sale.
Serial communications interfaces ranging from a
USB 2.0 Full-speed device multiple UARTs SPI SSP
to I2C-bus and on-chip SRAM of 8 kB up to 40 kB,
make these devices very well suited for
communication gateways and protocol converters
soft modems voice recognition and low end imaging,
providing both large buffer size and high processing
power.
Various 32-bit timers single or dual 10-bit ADC(s),
10-bit DAC, PWM channels and 45 fast GPIO lines
with up to nine edge or level sensitive external
interrupt pins make these microcontrollers suitable
for industrial control and medical systems.

WirelessCamera: It is
mini wireless monitoring video camera and wireless
receiver set for home and small business surveillance
and is used here for demonstration purpose. Simply
install the wireless camera in the room where we
want to monitor and set the wireless receiver in the
next room (up to 15 meters away) and hook it up to a
TV or DVR to watch the action or record the footage
for the security records. Here we are placing this
wireless camera in the combat robot.
Mobile Robot in mine Rescue and Recovery

Page 5


Fig4: Wireless camera.

Pressure sensor:

The NPC-1220 Series of solid state pressure sensors
are designed to provide a cost effective solution for
applications that require calibrated performance over
a wide temperature range. Packaged in a dual-in-line
configuration, the NPC-1220 Series is intended for
printed circuit board mounting. Optional pressure
port and lead configurations give superior flexibility
in low profile applications where pressure connection
orientation is critical. The NPC-1220 Series is based
on Nova Sensors advanced SenStable piezoresistive
sensing technology. Silicon micromachining
techniques are used to ion implant piezoresistive
strain gages into a Wheatstone bridge configuration.
The NPC-1220 Series offers the added advantage of
superior temperature performance over the
temperature compensated range of 32F to 140F
(0C to 60C).

Precision Centigrade Temperature Sensors
The LM35 series are precision integrated-circuit
temperature sensors, whose output voltage is linearly
proportional to the Celsius (Centigrade) temperature.
The LM35 thus has an advantage over linear
temperature sensors calibrated in Kelvin, as the user
is not required to subtract a large constant voltage
from its output to obtain convenient Centigrade
scaling. The LM35 does not require any external
calibration or trimming to provide typical accuracies
of 14C at room temperature and 34C over a full
55 to +150C temperature range. Low cost is
assured by trimming and calibration at the wafer
level. The LM35s low output impedance, linear
output, and precise inherent calibration make
interfacing to readout or control circuitry especially
easy. It can be used with single power supplies, or
with plus and minus supplies.

HSM-20G HUMIDITY SENSOR MODULE
The module of HSM-20G is essential for that
application where the relative humidity can be
converted to standard voltage output.

ZIGBEE:
Is a low-cost, low-power, wireless mesh networking
standard, based upon the IEEE 802.15.4 -2006
standard for personal area networks (WPAN). The
technology is intended to be simpler and cheaper than
other WPANs such as Bluetooth with much lower
power requirements. The cost advantage allows
Zigbee to be widely deployed in wireless control,
monitoring and tracking applications, where its low
power-usage allows longer life with smaller batteries,
and mesh networking provides higher reliability and
longer angels a low-cost, low-power, wireless mesh
networking standard, based upon the IEEE 802.15.4 -
2006 standard for personal area networks (WPAN).
The technology is intended to be simpler and cheaper
than other WPANs such as Bluetooth with much
lower power requirements. The cost advantage allows
Zigbee to be widely deployed in wireless control,
monitoring and tracking applications, where its low
power-usage allows longer life with smaller batteries,
and mesh networking provides higher reliability and
longer range Zigbee is a full-blown telemetry system
in its own right, with the ability to provide wireless
personal area networking (WPAN) i.e. digital radio
connections between computers and related devices,
such as sensors. As such, Zigbee can provide the
copper-less warehouse or factory.

Mobile Robot in mine Rescue and Recovery

Page 6


Fig5: Protocol stack for the Zigbee.
Zigbee builds on the global communication protocol
standards developed by the 802.15 Working Group.
The fourth in the series of these protocols, WPAN
Low rate Zigbee is designed primarily for telemetry
applications. It provides specifications for devices
that have low data rates, consume very little power,
and are thus characterized by long battery life.
Compared to Bluetooth, another of the 802.15 Group
protocols, Zigbee has lower data rates and doesnt
offer such a high bandwidth. However, its strength is
that it can be incorporated into small chips that
consume little power and are relatively inexpensive.
These chips can then be integrated into low-cost, low
-power devices that can sleep for 99 per cent of the
time until awakened by an event. The event can be
I/O related, real time or a combination of both. The
power and flexibility inherent in Zigbee technology is
exemplified by its ability to support over 64,000
devices in star, tree or mesh formations. The
technology provides high reliability, self-healing,
self-joining networks, with network protocol security
encryption, and is designed to operate in electrically
noisy industrial environments. The 802.15.4-based
Zigbee is designed for remote control and sensors,
which are many in number but require only small
packets of data, and in the main, extremely low
power consumption for long life. One of the
technologies first areas of usage was home
automation, where it revolutionized components such
as light switches, fire and smoke detectors,
thermostats, kitchen appliances, security systems and
video and remote controls. Today, Zigbee has
evolved seamlessly into the automotive, power
generation, materials handling, safety and general
industrial sectors. The technology is providing a
solution for product and personnel tracking,
monitoring and control in applications from car
plants to warehouses and offshore wind farms. It
offers security in these applications through a host of
key features, including acknowledgement that data
has been received at its destination; re-transmission
in the event of failure - in a similar manner to TCP/IP
networks; validation of message content using data
sequence numbering (Frame Check Sequence);
network redundancy - such that failure of a node on
the network will enable messages to be re- routed via
other nodes; and network protocol security
encryption.

Application
smaller pipeline inspection
Underground cable inspection
Exploration and mapping of Underground
structures
Tunnel inspection
Continuously monitoring chemical Industries
environment
Rescue robots are one of these things, containing
a computer that react with the robots hardware to
become a lifesaving tool
military operations

Advantages
Less cost
Design is simple
It can save the human life
It can be control easily


Drawbacks
Less communication distance

CONCLUSION
The project is aimed at providing human safety for
the rescue team in hazardous environments such as
coal mines .This is a prototype which can be
implemented in real time by using components with
better range and efficiency. This robot enters into
hazardous environments and provides data like the
content of various gases after the explosion has
occurred and also the temperature based on which the
rescue team will be sent with necessary precautionary
Mobile Robot in mine Rescue and Recovery

Page 7

measures in order to make sure that the rescue team
does not come to any harm. The conveyor belt
enables the robot to run in rugged environment
overcoming the disadvantage of armed robots as they
might trip and fall in such conditions

Future implements
Bomb detection and diffusion
It can be used in Terrorist attacks situation
Security combat module


Reference
[1] (2008, Apr. 18). Mining disaster incidents and
fatalities, 19002007
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH)
[Online]. Available:
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/statistics/pdfs/
disall.pdf
[2] C. Baker, A. Morris, D. Ferguson, S. Thayer, C.
Whittaker, Z. Omohundro,
C. Reverte, W. Whittaker, D. Hahnel, and S. Thrun,
A campaign
in autonomous mine mapping, in Proc. 2004 IEEE
Int. Conf.
Robotics and Automation (ICRA04), vol. 2, pp.
20042009.
[3] N. Elkmann, H. Althoff, S. Kutzner, T. Stuerze, J.
Saenz, and
B. Reimann, Development of fully automatic
inspection systems for
large underground concrete pipes partially filled with
wastewater, in
Proc. 2007 IEEE Int. Conf. Robotics and
Automation, Roma, 2007,
pp. 130135.
[4] S. Scheding, G. Dissanayake, E. M. Nebot, and H.
D. Whyte, An
experiment in autonomous navigation of an
underground mining vehicle,