High accuracy inertial navigation for underground mining machinery

The underground mining industry is constantly driven by the need to improve mining productivity, increase personnel safety, and secure environmental sustainability. Mining automation technology has shown significant potential to meet these needs by providing more accurate mining methods, incorporating sensing to optimally control equipment and increasing personnel safety through remote process operation. This paper details research being undertaken by CSIRO Earth Science and Resource Engineering (CESRE) Mining Technology group to advance the automation capability of underground coal mining equipment by developing new inertial navigation solutions. The research specifically targets a navigation solution for roadway development and the results obtained so far demonstrate that the system can provide the navigation accuracy required for the production environment.