Measuring Transport Time of Mine Equipment in an Underground Mine Using a Bluetooth Beacon System

Abstract

In this study, the time taken for mine haulage equipment to travel between destinations in an underground mine was measured and analyzed using a Bluetooth beacon system. In this system, Bluetooth beacons are attached to multiple points in an underground mine environment, and smartphones are mounted on mine equipment, such as haulage trucks, to collect transport time data. An underground limestone mine in Korea was selected to test the Bluetooth beacon system. The field experiments indicated that smartphones mounted on haulage trucks can recognize all Bluetooth beacons installed in the vicinity. The results also revealed that the Bluetooth beacon system can be used successfully in underground mines to quantitatively analyze transport times of haulage trucks going back and forth between loading and dumping points.