Mine Safety System Using Wireless Sensor Network

This paper describes the work carried out on the design and construction of a mine safety system prototype using a wireless sensor network with the objective of building a safety system to monitor the ambient characteristics of the mining environment. A review of the current literature relating to the health and safety of mine workers and mine safety systems is done. The subsystems of the prototype system are then simulated. The hardware consisted of electronic circuitry where a microcontroller is the principal processing unit. A graphical user interface is also implemented. A number of qualification tests are carried out. The temperature, humidity, airflow, and noise sensor measurements have an accuracy of 89.01%, 98.55%, 90.5%, and 89.53%, and a resolution of 0.105 degrees C, 0.12% RH, 0.05 m/s, and 0.23 dB SPL, respectively. In addition, gas and dust sensors met the specification; however, the accuracy could be improved. Two controlled outputs were implemented in the form of ventilation switching and a noise protection scheme.