Ultra-Wideband Based Positioning Systems for Harsh Mining Environment

Positioning and localization are important issues which are usually performed with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) in outdoor areas. Since, satellite signals are not reachable in most indoor environments, many technologies such as Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Bluetooth, Ultra-Wideband (UWB), etc. are employed to perform indoor positioning. Among these technologies, UWB has shown more advantages in indoor positioning, so it has been the focus of many studies since the last decades. Underground mining benefits from the advantages of positioning and tracking the mining machinery and personnel to improve ore extraction, reduce costs and avoid collisions.
The objective of this work is to develop hardware for positioning in mining environment based on UWB technology, suitable for the harsh conditions. The hardware capable of being used in TDoA and TWR positioning systems and can be used as both a tag and an anchor. Another hardware in the form of a small personnel tag is developed to avoid collisions between a mining machine and a person. The Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) of the mechanical stability of the developed hardware is explained in detail, followed by several vibration tests performed. Another important topic is the selection of an appropriate Super High Frequency (SHF) antenna and the calibration of the measurement results, which are also investigated in the next chapters.
In this work, many different functional and field measurements were carried out to confirm the functionality and robustness of the hardware under different conditions. The field measurements to locate the mining machines and to avoid collision between vehicle and personnel were also successfully performed with a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 6 in underground mines.