Abstract
This paper proposes a novel personnel positioning scheme for a tunnel network with blind areas, which compared with most existing schemes offers both low-cost and high-precision. Based on the data models of tunnel networks, measurement networks and mobile miners, the global positioning method is divided into four steps: (1) calculate the real time personnel location in local areas using a location engine, and send it to the upper computer through the gateway; (2) correct any localization errors resulting from the underground tunnel environmental interference; (3) determine the global three-dimensional position by coordinate transformation; (4) estimate the personnel locations in the blind areas. A prototype system constructed to verify the positioning performance shows that the proposed positioning system has good reliability, scalability, and positioning performance. In particular, the static localization error of the positioning system is less than 2.4 m in the underground tunnel environment and the moving estimation error is below 4.5 m in the corridor environment. The system was operated continuously over three months without any failures.
Highlights
Coal mine operations have been recognized as one of the most dangerous working environments due to the poor ventilation, potential rock falls, and presence of toxic gases
To verify the feasibility of the proposed global positioning system with blind areas, we have independently developed a prototype MPPS system
The microprocessor (CC2430 [23]) receives and transmits the personnel positioning and configuration information, ensures that the task is performed at the correct interval, packages the raw data into a message, and sends the message to the radio hardware
Summary
Coal mine operations have been recognized as one of the most dangerous working environments due to the poor ventilation, potential rock falls, and presence of toxic gases In this regard, the real-time localization of miners can greatly improve the daily management level and rescue efficiency in emergency situations, and has been applied in more and more underground mines. The perception range of wireless sensor nodes is only tens of meters (e.g., effective perception radius of Zigbee measuring point is about 60 meters in the interior roadway environment [17]), so building a complete coverage positioning system requires high cost, which will further generate data congestion, delays, and maintenance problems due to the large number of measuring points. In order to effectively and efficiently manage the large number of sensors, this paper develops a new design and deployment scheme, which forms a low-cost hierarchical coal mine personnel positioning system (Mine Personnel Positioning System: MPPS) with blind areas.
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