In wake of recent mining tragedies, some technology companies have suggested extension of wireless real-time location technology using WiFi networks to pinpoint miners trapped underground -- a solution that could save lives in the future.
One such company is Northern Virginia-based Ekahau Inc. who announced its Real-Time Locating Systems, which uses any standard WiFi network to track exact locations of the movement of miners trapped underground in mines or tunnels in real time.
The company cites itself as being the only available technology on the market that can leverage any brand of existing WiFi networks inside a mine without the need for any proprietary hardware or system installations.
"It's basically an indoor GPS system," said Tuomo Rutanen, vice president of business development for Ekahau. "It has many uses underground, keeping track of explosives, trucks, compressors, drills and above all, the well-being and safety of employees."
The same RTLS that companies like Ekahau proposed is not new, having been used within the healthcare system, tracking assets, patients, and doctors and meant to be used in large sprawling campus environments, he said.
With the increase of WiFi networks in mines for Voice over IP phone lines, the proliferation in WiFi networks has created a standard wireless infrastructure in which products like Ekahau's wireless tracker device can operate.
The small battery powered WiFi tag called Ekahau T201, about $60, has a call button which a miner pushes letting the tag alarm by sending the precise location to a remote server outside of the mine.
Then using wireless computers, outside staff are able to access location information on internal Web pages by pointing their Web browsers to an intranet page. Movement and location of each tagged miner is tracked in a database and shown on a visual map. And the last known locations of a miner will be mapped, in the event the WiFi network has collapsed.
The system works inversely as well, allowing management outside to alert those underground signaling caution.
So far, Ekahau has implemented the system in a tunnel work site in León, Spain, as well as in South America, Africa, and other parts of Europe.
It takes just under two weeks to set-up and is dependent on the WiFi infrastructure place, Rutanen said, mentioning they had deployed the system in Spain fall of last year.
The 25 kilometer-long tunnel could not have supported installation of any proprietary tracking system or antennas, so a tracking system using WiFi was necessary.
And as long as the WiFi network extended with the coverage of depth or length of the area underground, then the tracking device would be able to stay connected with the central computer, he said.
According to Rutanen, the only downside could be employees not wanting to be tracked; therefore an efficient system would need to be place when employees aren't tracked during downtime like lunch.
"The safety system in the mining industry should evolve with the technology that is being made available," he said. "WiFi technology is evolving and products like ours are becoming cost effective."
However, Ekahau and other mining safety technology companies are now under review, seeking approval from the Mine Safety Health Administration before it can provide its equipment for mining operations in the U.S. industry.
