GROUND SUPPORT_proof 19/07/2016 20:48 Page 3
GROUND SUPPORT
“In shallow ground, there is often loose rock
failure, which is easy to secure with conventional
rock support technology. In the Sudbury basin,
and in Northern Ontario, however, the mines go
deeper and deeper underground. There, the
ground stress increases due to depth, and it is
also affected by mining excavation. This stress
can fracture a rock in an unexpected way, and the
support in the mine can fail. If this happens, it
can cause a rockburst, which is very dangerous.”
Cai first recognised the design for this new
type of bolt while working with students in his
Mining Engineering Design Project course in
2012. He assigned a design project to students
working in groups of four, and listed specific
criteria for the design of a new yielding rock bolt,
including static strength, yielding capacity, ease
of manufacture and installation, and cost.
Of the four students who worked on the rock
bolt’s initial development, Alexander Watt,
Ukelabuchi Tabele, and Ian Van Eyk all graduated
in 2012 from the Mining Engineering program and
began working for Vale; fellow graduate Kevin
Pan has been employed at various mining
companies and currently works with DMC Mining
Services.
Patenting of the Superbolt was initiated in
2012 when Cai first disclosed the new design to
Laurentian University. Since then the university
has pursued its commercialisation and patents
are pending in Canada and Chile. All four
students are listed as co-inventors.
Cai has also secured NSERC CRD funding to
develop prototypes. Currently, the Superbolt
design is being prototyped in collaboration with
Sudbury’s Mansour Mining Technologies Inc.
Luleå University of Technology recently
introduced The Smart Rockbolt, a low-power
Internet of Things (IoT) device for industrial and
mining applications. The Smart Rockbolt “provides a
safer working environment for people working in
mines through online, real-time monitoring. The
Smart Rockbolt is a standard rock bolt with
embedded electronics capable of a multi-year
battery lifetime. Hazardous levels of seismicity or
load will automatically generate optical alarms using
multi-coloured high power LEDs as well as wireless
alarms in mine control systems. The technologies in
the Smart Rockbolt can also be used in many other
applications such as infrastructure monitoring,
building monitoring and more.”
The Smart Rockbolt uses a lot of different
Internet and IETF technologies: for example,
6LoWPAN for IP-based wireless communication;
IPv6 and IPsec for secure communication; NTP
for time synchronisation; CoAP for data transfer;
OMA LWM2M for device management and
metadata; and IPSO Smart Objects as the object
model for sensors and actuators. It also uses
technologies such as TLV, CBOR, JSON, and XML
for data communication and storage.
“EISLAB (Embedded Internet Systems lab) at
Luleå University of Technology recently
introduced The Smart Rockbolt, a low-power
Internet of Things (IoT) device for industrial and
mining applications
Luleå University of Technology (LTU) has been
pushing for the use of IP-based communication
for more than 15 years now. EISLAB has been
performing R&D on Embedded Internet
Systems/Internet of Things since 2003. The use
of IP allows us to be interoperable with industrial
monitoring and control systems, and to avoid
vendor lock-ins which come with the use of
proprietary technologies.”
The capability to perform real-time monitoring
of installed rock bolts, where changes in
parameters such as seismic activity and load can
be detected and alarms transmitted to mine
monitoring systems immediately, is essential to
mitigating disasters in the mines. This approach
enables mining companies to reinforce areas
Delivering the Support You Need
The Umbrella of Mine Safety
Visit us at MINExpo 2016
Central Hall, Booth 6085
www.dsiunderground.com
50 International Mining | AUGUST 2016