In the ‘new age’ of mining technology, regular 3D scanning of underground tunnels and shafts is one of the most powerful tools engineers have for safety and productivity monitoring, mapping as-builts for mine reconciliations, convergence monitoring over vast areas and will-it-fit “clash detection” analyses. For years, RAMJACK has been a proud technology evangelist for products like the uGPS Rapid Mapper™ – a rugged, mobile scanning device built for rapid scanning of tunnels and shafts.
But what happens when you encounter an inaccessible area – like an ore pass or raise – or, an area with a ‘heaved’ floor or tight spaces, making it unsafe or just too difficult to use tripod or vehicle-mounted scanners?
With drone technology almost ubiquitous in surface mining for rapidly surveying large areas of mining properties, finding a way to harness the versatility of drones underground is a game changer. But, as with all production and safety technologies, getting them to work reliably and effectively in the underground environment is not an insignificant challenge.
From their beginnings in military applications, drones (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles/UAVs) are now serving a variety of different industrial and civilian roles. An exciting development for the mining industry is the potential for a variety of uses of specialized drones in underground mines. Underground drones can make a huge difference in the way underground mines gather as-built data and make planning and operational decisions.
RAMJACK Technology Solutions is proud to have teamed up with Inkonova, a leading drone producer and manufacturer of the world’s first and most advanced drone solution for underground mines.
The Inkonova TILT Ranger and TILT Scout drones are especially useful for surveying in inaccessible areas. Their ability to fly, run, climb, and scan makes them the ideal hybrid solution for underground scanning. Whether you need to scan along a tunnel, down a shaft or ore pass, inside caverns and stopes, at working faces, or anywhere else in your underground mine, the TILT Ranger or TILT Scout is the ideal technology for the job.
Read more about Inkonova drones here, and contact us anytime to find out how you can use these ground-breaking drones from Inkonova to quickly and accurately map your underground mine in three dimensions.
