Coal Subsurface Mapping

This two stage project developed a machine-mounted sensing system that measures the depth of an underlying coal seam floor boundary during rip and stack mining. The earlier stage demonstrated a prototype ground penetrating radar (GPR) sensing system towed by a mobile platform across a pre-prepared open cut block to measure the thickness of an exposed coal surface prior to mining.

The key objective of this stage was to mount a radar-based seam sensing system to the blade of a production dozer to provide seam floor depth information to the operator in real-time during a pilot trial in production conditions.

The major challenges in achieving this objective arose from the requirement to adequately protect the radar sensor from damage when operating in the location behind the dozer blade which gave optimal sensor performance. Firstly, the use of a metallic enclosure for this protection introduced interference to the sensor data. Secondly, there was the operational risk of the enclosure detaching from the blade when the dozer travelled in reverse.

The project consisted of four development stages:

• Define sensing system specifications and identify potential sensor mounting locations;
• Adapt previously developed hardware for operation in a harsh environment and demonstrate real-time operation on a mini skid-steer digger;
• Design and develop a rugged enclosure to house the radar antenna behind a dozer blade; and
• Install the full system on a production dozer, conduct survivability trial and pilot trial.

Both the stage one and two reports are provided.