1. NIOSH Emergency Technologies Research and Development WJU International Mining Health & Safety Symposium David Snyder, MS, PE Office of Mine Safety and Health Research April 7, 2011

2. OMSHR Research Update NIOSH continues to conduct and sponsor R&D relative to the MINER Act in the following areas: –Communications –Tracking –Oxygen Supplies –Refuge Alternatives –Rescue Technologies –Mine Monitoring and Sensor systems Today’s presentation will focus on Emergency Communications and Tracking systems

3. NIOSH’s Contributions Approach… roadmap… building blocks to achieve by 2009 –National and International Consensus among labor, industry, government agencies Technical Vision –Establish performance specifications for candidate technologies –Fund a range and mix of technologies Technical Work –Administer and oversee contract research and development –Conduct in-mine experiments and lab R,D, & E Tech Transfer –Workshops, publications, collaborating with MSHA, etc.

4. Hard-wired Systems – Pre- Miner Act Limited Communications Access

5. Coverage of Critical Areas with Wireless Systems Wireless Coverage has tremendous safety advantages for the miners

6. Primary Communications Primary communications systems are those that: –Operate in the conventional radio bands –Use small antennas that allow the miner to have wearable devices with long battery life –Have sufficient throughput for general operations Leaky feeder and node based systems are examples of primary systems –Either approach requires vulnerable infrastructure in the mine

7. Survivability....The Challenge What happens if 2000 feet of all entries are lost?

8. Survivability..The Goal Alternate Communication Paths

9. Survivability….Secondary Systems What if the event happened here?

10. Current Research Improved Survivability – Secondary Systems –TTE systems development –Medium Frequency performance analysis C/T Interoperability “GPS denied” navigation and tracking C/T Systems Safety

11. Secondary Systems Secondary Systems are those that have few active components and a high potential to survive a disaster Medium Frequency Systems and TTE Systems are secondary systems may provide survivable alternative paths A secondary system is one which: –Operates in non-conventional frequency bands –Uses a large antenna that is best suited for fixed locations or portable applications –Does not have sufficient throughput for general operations

12. NIOSH-Led CONTRIBUTIONS Medium Frequency (MF) Systems Developed a medium-frequency system for face area redundancy –Develop a bridge to allow interoperability between medium- frequency system and the ultra-high frequency leaky feeder system Developed a medium frequency portable radio for use in escape situations Initial Technology developed through a U.S. Army CERDEC SBIR Future NIOSH research publications will help MF system designers and users to optimize the range and performance of MF communications –MF model development is planned for future work

13. Medium Frequency Communications Commercially Available Distances up to 2 miles

14. Through The Earth Systems –NIOSH awarded five separate contracts for development and demonstration of TTE systems –By 2012, a TTE permissible communications system will be commercially available to the mining industry –Future NIOSH research publications will help TTE system designers and users to optimize the range and performance of TTE communications –TTE model development is planned for future work NIOSH-Led CONTRIBUTIONS

15. Through the Earth (TTE) Communications

16. Permissible Systems Results Feasibility of TTE communications demonstrated Underground to surface range of 680-ft for voice and 1200-ft for text @ intrinsically-safe levels Directional finding with beacon Prototype hardware

17. Interoperability “Interoperability” refers to our vision of the future of survivable mine communications in which a low bandwidth secondary communications channel would be used as a backup for the primary communications system. Key goal - Miner would be able to communicate using the same handheld device as used for day to day operations

18. UHF Medium Frequency Conductor Commercially Available Distances up to 2 miles between repeaters Distances up to 2000 feet between repeaters and hand held units UHF to MF Interoperability

19. UHF to TTE Interoperability

20. UHF to MF to TTE Interoperability Medium Frequency UHF TTE

21. Tracking System Miner wears a tag or handset: Unique ID (RFID or MAC) Needs ‘readers’ of tags

22. Tracking System Improvements Tracking System Performance Research Contract –Define performance parameters for underground mines –Develop measurement techniques and tools –Competitive contract award to Virginia Tech Inertial Measurement Unit assisted tracking systems hold promise for more survivable and accurate tracking –Primary problem with IMU based systems is excessive drift of the miner device –NIOSH has funded evaluations of two different approaches to the problem: Belt mounted radio node based correction Shoe mounted visual cue based correction

23. Future Research Electrical Safety and Communications Team headed by Dr. Joe Waynert –Future C/T technology research will be conducted under this team –Currently staffing to expand in-house research capabilities in the post ESA environment –In-house research is consistent with traditional approach and current budget –Process includes formulating structured research projects which are peer reviewed and normally have a 3 to 5 year timeframe

24. Technology Research Areas The team is formulating research projects in the areas of: –Signal Propagation & Systems Modeling –Communications & Tracking Systems Safety –Communications & Tracking Systems Improvement The focus of the Electrical Safety and Communications team is the improvement of the safety, reliability and survivability of the C/T systems

25. Improving Mineworker Health & Safety Through Research & Prevention Never forgetting it’s about the health & safety of the mineworker!

26. Improved Survivability the Next Steps The principal challenge for post accident operation is survivability Lesson learned: Survivability is most practically achieved through alternate communications paths. –No practical way to harden primary communications infrastructure to survive any conceivable event Survivability has as much to do with the design and installation as it does the technology –Mine specific design approach

27. Alternate Communications Paths for Leaky Feeder

28. Alternate Communications Paths for Node based systems

29. Alternate Communications Paths for Node based systems (Mesh)

30. Alternate Communications Paths Ideally the alternate communications path is “truly diverse” and highly reliable Independent failure mechanisms –No shared components between the primary and alternate path that would fail from a common event Minimum number of active components (those that require electricity) yields the highest reliability Secondary Systems offer great potential for an alternate communications path, particularly near the face –A borehole directly to the miner would be the “ideal” alternate communications path

31. TTE (ELF – LF) MF “Parasitic Propagation Primary Wireless Systems UHF/VHF

32. Fiber 1,000,000,000,000 bps Wires 1,000,000,000bps Primary Wireless Systems 1,000,000bps Secondary Systems a few thousand to less than 100 bps Decreasing Throughput

33. Interoperability Challenge Interoperability with digital and multi-channel communications is more complicated How do we ensure that only emergency traffic is directed to this secondary system? Hybrid Systems will need to be developed to address the “bandwidth mediation” challenge. Normal Operations Emergency Messages

34. Systems Quality Assurance The introduction of wireless communications and tracking systems also introduces the need to ensure the quality and compliance of these systems. –Measurement tools and techniques need to be developed –Predictive tools and analysis techniques are needed. –Design of Systems –Calculating Survivability of systems –Performance Goals need to be established in a manner that enables compliance determination. Examples, tracking “accuracy”, system survivability, etc. (See 3.1.6 of NIOSH Tutorial for more)

35. MineComms Mapper TM from SkyMark (Helium Networks) Collect radio frequency data throughout the mine. Track location continuously, quickly, easily. Generate accurate coverage maps. Improve mine-wide communications coverage. Verify coverage to meet Miner Act requirements. Commercially Available Steve David (412-371-0680)

36. Interagency Collaborations US Army CERDEC – Medium Frequency System US Army CERDEC – Ferromagnetic Materials Technology NIST Medium Frequency and Systems Interoperability Modelling DARPA – HUMS program and TRX Systems US Navy – Battery Safety

37. NIOSH-defined goals for post- accident communication Post-accident communications functionality as envisioned in the MINER Act –Should be useful for routine communications –Must be reasonably likely to provide 2-way communications in the aftermath of a “typical” disaster (historical context) –Must provide coverage in critical areas, e.g. escapeway, known entries within active panels –Must be applicable to all types and sizes of underground coal mines –Must be achieved within 3 years –Must serve as a platform that can be enhanced and improved as newer technologies become available