COAL MINE DETECT ABSTRACT :

AND RESCUE ROBOT

Coal mine is a dangerous
TECHNIQUE field, various fatal factors menace people.
The rescuers have known the mine tunnel
actual situation when a disaster in coal
mine occurs. Especially, it is very
dangerous to go into the tunnel without
detect in advanced because second
explosion may occur at any time. Aiming
to the task, the rescue robot can be sent to
explosion environment and detect gas
content and temperature, etc. Meanwhile
the environmental data are sent to the
rescuers. This paper introduces a coal mine
detect and rescue robot. It is composed of
mechanism, control system,
communication system and sensors, etc. It
can run in explosion environment, climb
ruins, check gas, and carry some food and
medicine to the miners in disaster. The
design of the robot in this paper gives the
PRESENTED BY solutions.

RAMANI INTRODUCTION:
RAJ .A
There are over 20,000 coal
VIGNESH.S mines in China and China is the biggest
coal product country in the world. Many
DEPARTMENT OF coal mines disaster occurs every year. It is
said that dead miners in China occupy
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING about 80% dead people of the world.Dead
rate is 100 times more than American, 30
times more than North Africa. After coal
mine disaster, mine tunnel situation is
VSA GROUP OF INSTITUTIONS, unknown. It is very dangerous to go into
mine tunnel without environmental
SALEM-10. information because second explosion may
occur. In order to prevent many rescuers
from the second explosion, how to detect
the situation under ground is important. So
E-MAIL ID: robot for executing the task of detection
ramaniraj2007@gmail.com and rescue in coal mine becomes a key
choice. Due to it can go into explosion
vickysms91@gmail.com environment and detect gas content and
temperature, etc. And it can carry some
PH : 9965271769 food, water, medicine to men pin down in
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disaster. The information is sent to the
people on ground, and the rescuers can
make the save plan as soon as possible. So
the coal mine detect and rescue robot is
very useful robot in coal mine disaster.
A coal mine is a tunnel system
under ground. There only a few pithead on
ground. If there are some accidents, people
are easily closed in tunnel and often cannot
escape from tunnel. It has dangerous
factors as collapse, gas explosion, CO
poison gas, CO2 gas, low O2 content, high
temperature, smoke, coal dust, fire, water,
etc. All these factors can kill people easily.
CH4 gas is intergrowth with coal. When
coal is mined, CH4 gas is released. Gas is
pushed off by forced ventilate system. But
if the ventilate system is fault or gas is
explosion from coal layer, gas fill in
tunnel.
A flame current can cause a
heavy gas explosion. Mine tunnel is a
narrow passageway, so the explosion wave
can destroy any thing in the tunnel. All
devices and people may be damaged, and
the gas of CH4, CO,CO2 and coal dust are
filled in the tunnel, so the environment of
the tunnel is low O2 content and high
temperature. Besides, the forced ventilate
system has been damaged, the gases
cannot be push out and accumulate in
tunnel. A fire may cause a second
explosion. People in tunnel could be
poisoned by CO, stifle by CO2 and low O2
content, high temperature and coal dust.
Rescuers on ground darent go into
explosion mine tunnel. Because situation is
not known, any one may be killed by
second explosion. So detect mine tunnel
situation is the first mission to the rescuers.
Robot is an ideal tool in coal mine disaster.
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The robot used in coal mine
tunnel must have many special characters
which are difference to other robots on
ground. Coal mine tunnel is a special
environment. The first problem is
explosion gas is every where in tunnel.
Any fire can cause an explosion. Robot
must be designed as a flame-proof device
to avoid robot as a new flame current when
it is fault. The second problem is the
tunnel which is narrow and rugged. The
middle of the tunnel is railway. One side of
the railway is belt transmission. The other
side is a narrow road on coal. The
passageway is a rugged coal road with
many obstacles, so it is difficult to move
on the mine tunnel. But varies obstacles
must be crossed. Communication is
another difficult problem in mine tunnel
because electromagnetic wave is absorbed
and echoed in a coal tube. Because of
many corners in the tunnel, Wave cannot
cross these corners easily. Especially video
signal must be sent to controlled box, so
the wireless communicate is very difficult.
ROBOT STRUCTURE:
The robot is composed of
mechanical vehicle, driving system,
control system, communication system,
sensor system, storage batteries and remote
control system. The robot is controlled by
operator. A robot with six tracks, which
has 3.2 km/h in speed (maximum speed),
about 4 hours in working time (about 2
hours in moving continuously), 30 degrees
in climbing slope and at least 1 Km in
communication distance. Especially it can
carry 5 kg food or medicine. Robot has 6
tracks. Two main tracks are moving drive
tracks. The two front arms and two rear
arms are used to cross obstacles and kept
the posture of the robot.
Coal mine detect and rescue robot
A.HIGH CROSSING
ABILITY:
Tunnel is narrow and
rugged and there is railway in the middle
of tunnel ground. A belt transmission is
laid on one side of the railway and the
other side is a narrow a coal road where is
rugged with many obstacles. In addition,
many electric wires, water bags and steel
pipelines are on the wall and the roof.
Especially, the passageway of the tunnel is
not horizontal. There are many turns, up
slopes, slopes and stairs in the
environment. So it is difficult to pass over
by robots in the mine tunnel. After
explosion, all things are damaged and the
tunnel became ruins. Coal blocks and dust
filled, wires are twined, and tubes are
twisted. But robot must cross these
obstacles although it is very difficult for
passing over. Obviously, the two-tracked
robots are not suitable for the complex
environment. If using
four-tracked robots, the robot could not go
back smoothly when there is a huge
concave area behind the robot. So we
design a six-tracked robot.
Our robot can rotate front and rear
arms to improve its obstacle-performance.
The robot length is longer than normal
because it can be rotated down the two
arms to the ground if it meets a ditch. As
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result, the robot can cross a ditch about
half of vehicle length. On the other hand,
the robot can raise its arms to climb the
stairs or slope if it meets them. When robot
goes down slope, it can put its arms to
adjust its posture according to the slope
angle so that the stability and driving
ability of the robot are kept. Two DC servo
motors is used to drive the two main
tracks, one is on front-left, and another one
is on rear-right. Motor power is chosen
300W and reducer ratio is 60:1. Three
tracks of left side is driven by one motor,
three tracks of right side is driven by the
another motor. Two DC servo motors drive
two aided arms. The front arm and rear
arm are driven by each motor separately.
Left arm and right arm in front side are
linked by a bar and rotate together and left
and right arms of rear side are swung up
and down together too, driven by one
motor. These two motors are chosen 120W
and reducer ratio is 800:1. Each one of these
four motors occupies one box corner.
B .EXPLOSION-PROOF
DESIGN:
Explosion-proof design is
an important approach for developing a
coal robot. Because flammability gas in
coal mine is existed anywhere, if an
electric fault occurs in robot system, flame
might cause a gas explosion. So this kind
of robots must be designed with explosion-
proof performance. On the other hand,
motors, PLC and batteries are big power
are chosen from the commercial market
and they cant be guaranteed in explosion-
proof. So the box designed as outer shell
of the robot for preventing explosion is
needed. All electric elements are set up
inside a metal box. The box is a sealed
shell using high intensity material. If
explosion occurs, the metal shell can
prevent the flame out of the box. In
addition, in static situation about joint, a
special sealed construction is used.
And for rotate axle of gearbox, a
special sealed solution is adopted to
preventing flame out. Every element
outside must be essential safe or sealed.
The explosion-proof design metal box is
more weight than ordinary ground mobile
robot. So velocity may low then ordinary
ground robot, and moving time is shorter
than the ordinary one and the power will
be used more.
Mechanical structure of the robot
C. DESIGN OF VIBRATION
ABSORPTION, WATER-PROOF,
MUD-PROOF, AND
DUSTPROOF
Vibration is one of the key
technical problems for this sort of mobile
robots. When robot runs as high velocity,
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for long distance or for long time, the
vibration will become very serious. The
elements inside the robot body would be
damaged, so we designed a folder inner the
robot which is linked robot body with
springs. All electrical elements are fixed
on the folder in order to absorb the
vibration. Water-proof function is
necessary to this robot. Coal mine tunnel is
a wet environment. In somewhere, the
water drops fall down and somewhere are
puddles. So if water invades the robot
body, the electrical elements may be
shorted. In static joint plate, rubber seal
washers are used and two O-shape rubber
rings are used in the rotate axle of gearbox
in order to prevent water invading.
Usually, the robot cross the puddles and is
not immerged in water, so this design is
enough. Outside wheels and tracks should
be made of plastic and other light weight
materials. Mud and coal blocks are easily
involved into the grousers of the wheels
through the tracks. These may struck
tracks and wheels and robot cannot move
anymore. So we designed a sealed
structure to protect this situation.
D.DESIGN OF THERMAL
BALANCE
There many elements
generate heat inside robot, such as motors,
drivers, PLC, batteries, etc. These heats are
accumulated inside the robot. Temperature
may rise to very high and as result, the
PLC may not work in high temperature.
Motors may be damaged and batteries may
be fired. We have designed a cooling
system which is composed of fans, and the
air route way is planed. The cool air is
sucked into the box of the robot and the
heats are taken out of the box. In addition,
the issues of explosion-proof and water-
proof are taken account.
E. RESCUE GOODS
 This robot can carry 0.5 kg
medicine, 1 kg water, 1 kg food, a multi-
functional tool and other necessary goods.
Except of them, several lighters and
microphone are fixed on robot to
demonstrate robot position. When the
lighters flash, the survivors could be
attracted and they can contact with
rescuers through the microphone.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Robot electrical system is
composed of driving system, control
system, communication system, sensor
system, storage batteries and remote
control system, etc. Remote controller has
a PLC, a communicator, a battery, a power
module, a keyboard and a joystick.
Operator sends instructions through the
remote control box. The Controller in the
box sends the commands through wireless
communicator to the robot and the robot
can receive the command signals from its
communicator. PLC controller in the robot
can control the robot to execute the tasks.
Remote control principle
Remo
te control box
Operator can see the scene
ahead when the robot is moving and obtain
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the working status and detection
parameters at once because the current
video and data information are sent back to
the remote control box.
A. MOTOR SELECTION
The robot has to need 4
motors. Two motor are to be driven the
main tracks for locomotion, and two are to
be rotated aided tracks for swinging action.
This robot is 65 kg weight, and the
maximum speed can be reached at 3.2
km/h. We have selected two 300W motors,
maximum speed is 6000 rpm and continue
torque is 0.35 Nm. These motors have
some abundant power. The two rotation
motors are selected as 120W, and the
reduce ratio of gearbox is 800:1, this can
assure that the robot has enough force to
rotate the arms. Gearbox axle should link
to out axle with a flexible element to
prevent vibration and shock. When robot
goes down slope or stairs, Motor becomes
an electricity generator and will generate
with a high voltage to breakdown other
elements, so the motor driver should have
energy absorption function to prevent the
breakdown occurring and motor should
have brake to maintain the mechanism
position of the robot.
Robot electrical principle
B. PLC CONTROL SYSTEM
We have used FP_C32
micro PLC of Panasonic Company as the
control core. This kind of PLC is very
reliability. It can resist vibrate, shock and
adapt the temperature change in high and
low. PLC main sampling cycle is 0.32_s,
and with 32 I/O, 4 RS2232 series port and
8 channels 10 bit ADC. There are 5 PLC
modules linked by 485 series line inter the
control system.
Robot PLC controller
C. SENSORS
Sensors arrangement is an
important. Many signals must be detected
such as CH4 gas, CO gas, CO2 gas, O2
content, temperature, smoke, coal dust, fire
and wet air, etc. These sensors must be
concentrated in a small volume and must
take account of explosion-proof and water-
proof. The information of robot velocity,
posture, distance between robot and
obstacle are also detected by the sensor
system. All these signals should be sent to
control operator. There are three cameras
set up on the robot. One is on front of
robot body to investigate the scene ahead.
One is on rear of robot
body to view the hind scene in order to
move toward. The last one is as an overall
camera to look around the circumstance of
the robot body. There are two LED coal
mine lamps on front body to illuminate the
road. One LED coal mine lamp on rear
body to illuminate hind road, in order to
know the robot by operator in far and safe
place. Robot direction is detected by an
electronic compass XWEC1700. Using the
compass, we can know the degree of robot
and north direction, and know roll and
pitch degree of robot. Its precision is 0.1
6
degree. In addition, the compass can work
in strong ferromagnetism field.
D. COLLISION
AVOIDANCE SYSTEM
There are 6 ultrasonic
sensors for detect distance in the robot.
These sensors send ultrasonic waves and
receive reflex wives about obstacles, so the
distance can be known by the receive
circuit. If an obstacle is on front, the robot
can turn to aside random. For example, if
sensors 2#, 4# detect an obstacle but
sensors 3#, 5# didnt detect the obstacle,
robot turns to right. Otherwise, robot turns
to left. If an obstacle is close to robot body,
robot can stop immediately automatically
and alarm to the operator. This function is
important to mine robot because there are
many obstacles in tunnel, and the tunnel
wall and corner may contact to robot when
control is failure.
E. MINE TUNNEL
COMMUNICATION
SYSTEM
Coal mine tunnel is like a
tube under the ground and have many turn
corners in the tunnel. These turns are not
help for wireless communication. Coal
block is thick enough to stop electric wave
to pierce through and narrow tunnel could
not allow the electric wave to go around. It
is impossible to make the wave reflex in
the long and narrow tunnel with many
turns. Picture and date communicate is
necessary to control. As the final result, the
signals of image and data information
could neither be received nor sent. Usually,
image information is a large amount of
data to transmit, so the communication in
coal mine tunnel is a key in technique. We
have used two technical methods to solve
the problem. One is to adopt the optical
fiber communication, and the other is to
use the wireless repeaters. We use two
communication systems to send data and
images separately because network
communication system has time delay.
This method can avoid time delay. SRWF-
508 data senders frequency is 915 MHZ,
transmit distance is 3000 m in open field.
PT609 is video sending and receiving
system. It frequency is 1.2 GHz,
communication distance is 1 km in open
field.
to protect glass fiber. If the fiber is long, its
weight will be heavier and its volume will
be larger, so these factors are not useful to
the robot. 1 km optical fiber with flexible
metal shell is 25 kg/km and the fiber with
flexible plastic shell is 4 kg/ km, so it is
very easy to break when pull and press or
twist it. If it is used only once a time, this
is a method to diminish weight. On the
other hand, optical fiber may influence
robot movement, especially when robot is
return, the fiber line would roll around
robot wheels.
Wireless repeater is the other
method. When robot turns in corner, it can
throw a repeater on the ground. The
repeater can receive signals and send the
signals to other repeater. The signal
frequency band is different in receiving
and sending so that prevents interfering
each other.

Optical fiber communication system

Optical fiber
communication system has an optical
converter in control box. It transmits video
signals and 485 serious data signals to the
optical fiber. Robot has data and video
signal communicator in its body. An
optical fiber roller is fixed on the robot.
Roller core has battery, data and video
communicator and light converter. It can
transmit signal to the robot control system
Wireless middle repeater communicate system
through wireless way. A long optical fiber
is rolled around the roller and linked to the Each wireless repeater has a
optical converter. Roller can be turned power module and can pass 500 m far, but its size
freely. When the robot runs, optical fiber is is a bit big. So the robot only can carry 3 wireless
pulled to ground along the passageway of repeaters and it can pass through 3 corners. If we
the tunnel. The pulling force do not need decrease its weight and volume of the repeater,
robot can carry more.
strongly because the roller is turning
freely. The reason of wireless
communication on the robot body and F. FAULT DIAGNOSE,
roller is that this way can prevent optical SAFE, AND RESTART
fiber to be twisted and broken when roller SYSTEM
turns many circles. Optical fiber has a
flexible metal shell to surround it in order
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 When coal mine mobile
robot runs in the tunnel, various errors and
faults may occur. The fault diagnose
system checks data of each element to
judge the correct or wrong. If a data of an
element is error, such as data disappearing
or data is not varied, the element might
fault. So PLC will send an alarm signal to
rescuers. If fault is small and have not
influenced main function, robot can work
continue. For example, a sensor fault is a
small, if fault is fatal, robot must be stop at
once, restart and alarm. Such as
communicator fault, motor error. If robot
is out of the control, it may rush to a
corner and wedge in it. Motors may run as
uncontrolled mode or get struck. This may
damage motor and mechanical
construction.
CONCLUSION
In these circumstances,
PLC should diagnose all system and stop Coal mine detect and rescue
robot motor immediately. False probability robot is a kind of mobile robot for
of PLC is very low. If PLC system is dead, executing emergent tasks. Taking account
we use a remote restart circuit to restart of many factors existed in coal mine, a
system again. Remote restart circuit is coal mine detect and rescue robot is
composed of wireless receiving circuit and designed and developed in our laboratory.
sending circuit. Control distance is 500 m. The robot has many characters and is
It is independence to other communication suitable for mine tunnel verifying in the
system. initial experiments. It can go into
explosion environment and detect gas
EXPERIMENTS content and temperature, etc in design.
And it can carry some food, water,
Coal mine robot is used medicine to survivors in a disaster. It
running in underground tunnel, so its includes moving mechanism, computer,
functions of movement ability, working communication system and various
conditions, cross some obstructs should be sensors, etc. Robot can climb 30 degree
tested in various cases. slope, velocity is 3.2 km/h and can
transmit 5 kg rescue goods. The optical
fiber and repeaters are equipped. The robot
is also designed with functions of
explosion-proof and water-proof. Our
robot has an automatical collision
avoidance system.

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