MINE LIGHTING
Cap lamps and tracking
Over the past few years , Northern Light Technologies ( NLT ) says its has seen a significant increase in mines installing new tracking solutions underground as well as upgrading their systems with new technologies like LTE . This is driven by safety especially in the event of an incident but also productivity in ensuring the right people are in the right place , or for getting specialists like electricians where they are needed . “ The downside to a traditional tracking solution is that tracking tags can be forgotten or lost . But by putting the tags in a cap lamp , a miner has to take them underground , and they are always on him or her . It is also costly to maintain the batteries in tracking tags . Depending on the beaconing rate , the batteries will need to be replaced every 6-12 months . By putting the tag in the lamp , it is powered by a rechargeable battery every time the miner charges the lamp .”
Market wise , NLT says most of the lower-cost options do not have smart lamps , that is , the ability to integrate tags for tracking and / or proximity . “ None of them have the functionality , flexibility to work with multiple third-party solution providers , integration options or customisation opportunities that NLT smart lamps have .”
In terms of the lamps themselves , since its introduction eight years ago , NLT has improved its Genesis cap lamp IP 67 rating ( water / dust resistance / waterproofing ). All of the lamps are now exceed IP68 rating . It has also increased battery power from 2.6mA to 3.2mA . “ Combined with advancements in LED technology , we ’ ve been able to increase the LUX output by almost 50 %.” NLT adds : “ Genesis , as well as NLT ’ s Eagle and Falcon , are very flexible platforms . We recently partnered with Mobilaris on the first bi-directional tracking solution , allowing a command centre to flash the light on an individual cap lamp , or all cap lamps , in a mine and have the miner acknowledge receipt of the message .”
All the Nutrien potash mines ( former PotashCorp ), use Genesis . Some are transitioning to NLT ’ s Eagle to incorporate not only tracking but also proximity . Boliden ’ s Tara mine in Ireland has been using Genesis for years and is now upgrading its Mobilaris tracking tags to the bi-directional tag . All of Cargill Salt ’ s mines use Genesis with AeroScout tags . “ We ’ ve sold between 7,000-9,000 Genesis lamps . Feedback from mines is that they like the tracking and reliability . They also like the fact that putting the tag inside the lamp saves money because they don ’ t have to replace the tracking tags ’ batteries , which can be costly over time .”
In the future , NLT believes we may see built-in additions like biometrics and environmental monitoring . Like a smart watch , the cap lamp could provide bi-directional communications and key biometric tracking , eg for heat , sweat and fatigue , that can alert both the miner and the command center to any physiological danger signals . Additionally , monitoring for gasses , like CO 2 and methane , may be incorporated . “ Smart lamps will only get smarter as the technologies advance .” Today , NLT already works with most of the major tracking and proximity providers , including its own N-Connex but also Newtrax , Mobilaris , AeroScout , Ambra , Strata , AiRISTA Flow and Meglab .
Your Cap
“ Lamp SMAR
T ”?
SMART lam mps ha ve built-in tags which can enable :
• Proximity aler ts • Lone w orker alerts
• Tracking
• Two-way communications
• Programmable LED • Adaptation to emerging technology
• Evacuationwarnings
NLT is the only cap lamp manufacturer
designing their lamps to work with virtually any 3rd-party tracking or proximity solutionn provider ’ s tags .
THE EA GLE The first cap lamp to incorporate proximity and tracking tag options . IP68 – Fully customizable – Field-replaceable battery and components .
TH HE GENESIS The first cap lamp to include a tracking tag opt tion . IP68 – Fully customizable – Field-replaceable battery and components .
info @ nltinc . com www . nltinc . com
TheWorld Leader in Cap Lamp Innovation