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Vertical Mine Opening Inspection System (VOIS)
 Introduction
Underground mining utilises vertical or near vertical shafts as well as declines
and inclines for connecting different horizontal levels within a mine. Many
of these shafts are used as orepasses or to provide ventilation to the mine
workings and access by humans is severely restricted or forbidden due to safety
reasons. However the mine site still needs to be able to monitor the condition
of these vertical openings or shafts to ensure that unexpected failures do not
interrupt mine operations. One of the significant problems with obtaining images
of the shaft is that the shafts are not consistent in cross section dimensions
and any instrument lowered down the shaft tends to spin uncontrollably. CSIRO
is tackling this problem in conjunction with Western Australia School of Mines
Curtin University.
 CSIRO
solution
This project focuses on providing a stabilised image of the shaft by a combination
of physical stabilisation of the instruments and electronic stabilisation of
returned images utilising orientation data from an instrument pod. The images
obtained will then be joined to form a continuous mosaic of the saft so that
the condition of the opening can be monitored over time.
Benefits
The availability of information over time on the condition
of shafts will enable the wear rates on orepasses to be monitored so that erosion
of the walls will not lead to unexpected failure of the orepass or of the control
point at the base of the base and allow the replacement of infrastructure in
a timely manner. The ability to monitor return airways will also help to prevent
unexpected failures in the shafts disrupting mine operation.
Future
The data acquisition and image stabilisation techniques
developed in this project will be adapted for use in control and monitoring
of automated mining equipment and methods as it will provide the capacity to
remove operators to a safe location.
Links
http://www.curtin.edu.au/
For more information, dowload
pdf
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here to download.
For further information
please contact:
Name: Mr Ian Gipps CSIRO Mining Automation
Tel: +61 7 3327 4594
Fax:+61 7 3327 4566
Email: ian.gipps@csiro.au
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