439
immobility during haulage. As can be seen from Figure 3, over four shifts, on average, 30%
of the loaded up-ramp haul time was spent immobile.
3 BLE BEACON TRACKING
The explosion of the Internet of Things (IoT) at the consumer level has been derived from a
combination Big Data and ubiquity of smart devices. Many of the most popular IoT products have a companion app that is used as an additional human user interface as well as a
communications bridge to the cloud. This allows a very rich user experience by having most
of the data processing and communications infrastructure on the smart device rather than
the IoT object. One of the key technologies that could potentially transform mining, especially underground, are nearables. These are usually Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons,
and as the name suggests, uses low-powered Bluetooth chips that are detected by a smart
device such as a phone or tablet. The technology was invented as a means of locating people
within a retail environment, so that promotional material could be communicated from the
Figure 2. Reported vs Unreported Unproductive Time (minutes).
Figure 3. Immobility on the uphill haul while in the ramp.
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
750
600
450
300
150
0
- op Reported Unproductive Time
- Auto Tracked Immobility
-Unrepot1ed Unproductive Time
600
500
400
300
200
100
• Immobility During Full
Haul
• Full Haul Excluding
Immobility
Full Haul Time (ruins)