Experimental Testing of IEEE801.15.4/ZigBee Sensor Networks in Confined Area

The IEEE 802.15.4/ZigBee standard is considered as a potential candidate for wireless sensor and actuators networks. Several commercial platforms with IEEE 802.15.4/ZigBee support have been made available in the last few years, and an increasing number of operating systems specifically designed for sensor and actuator networks are evolving. Underground mining is considered to be one of most hazardous industrial activity. The industrial automation applications in the mining galleries can benefit from the recent technological advances. In fact, many approaches to reduce costs and improve performance have been examined. The main objective of this paper is the implementation and evaluation of wireless sensor networks for environmental data measurements in a real underground mine. Therefore, the nodes were evaluated in real operating conditions.