Mining lamp management application solution based on RFID technology

Strengthening the management of the use of mining lamps in coal mines, including the management of mining equipment storage locations, maintenance locations, distribution, etc., to ensure that the mining lamps are intact and can effectively meet the normal and special conditions of use underground is an important condition for ensuring safe production in coal mines. The purpose of studying various management methods of miner's lamps is to obtain a safe production environment and seek the best economic benefits of mining, and ensure the needs of safe production and normal production.

The intelligent management software of miner's lamps can realize automated management of personnel and miner's lamps: every employee in the mine is equipped with a unique barcode data identification ID. The software is used in conjunction with barcode technology to record the miners' entry and exit into the miner's lamp room.

Barcodes combine employee numbers with various other codes to allow or restrict access to predetermined areas. The details contained in barcodes can be collected through smart light systems. Currently, barcodes are closely integrated with unique numbers on RFID tags. RFID Tags are attached to miners' lamps or other devices. This process is part of the preliminary design of the database and is associated with the allocation of lamps in the system. Once completed, the rest is just a matter of maintenance - adding new allocations when new employees arrive. , when an employee leaves the company, the previous allocation will be removed.

1. System planning and program selection

Applying RFID systems to mines has proven to be a serious challenge. Initially, the (mining) cap lamp battery box was customized with 125 kHz low frequency and 13.56 MHz high frequency passive tags. Install readers (transponders) in the equipment distribution room and near the turnstile at the exit from the miner's lamp room to the shaft. The turnstile is also equipped with a barcode scanner to read each miner's ID Card to confirm whether Allowed to pass.

However, the RFID system failed to meet the minimum reading distance requirement of 600mm because there were three areas where miners had to pass through the turnstiles. If the reading range of the system is less than 60O mm, reading errors may occur. Active tags have also been studied. If active tags are used, the RFID system can have a larger reading distance when tracking items, but because the cost of active tags is too high compared with passive tags, this solution is not advisable.

Another option is 900 MHz UHF passive tags and readers. Since water and metals can cause RFID interference and prevent high read rates, all the Tools used by miners are artificially made of different materials. Because the lamp is made of plastic. It has no impact on the reading of 900 MHz UHF tags, and tags with cap lights are easier to process. The self-contained self-rescue kit is surrounded by a stainless steel container, which interferes with the reading of the 900 MHz ultra-high frequency tag. The gas detection equipment is also surrounded by stainless steel, which interferes with the operating frequency of the tag and reader.

2. System implementation and equipment selection

Dual-frequency RFID technology combines the advantages of low-frequency (125-135 kHz) transmission and high-frequency (6.8 MHz) RFID high-speed data transmission capabilities. RFID Readers transmit low-frequency signals to provide energy to tags. The tag uses a high-frequency spectrum to transmit signals to the reader. This dual-frequency performance enables successful reading of multiple tags, even when many miners gather and the number of people going down the mine continues to decrease. The system can read an average of 7,200 tags per minute on a continuous basis, with a reading range of 0.6 to 2 m. The system can operate through liquids and even some metals. Its performance is better than 13.56MHz and 860-960 MHz RFID systems.

18 dual-frequency readers and 5,000 tags were configured in a miner's lamp room for testing. In addition, the installation work includes setting up a local area network (LAN) to connect the readers and determining the configuration of the readers in the mining lamp room to optimize the system operation. The results show. The dual-frequency system can "achieve a high degree of accuracy" and can meet the need to track the movement of miners in and out of the miner's lamp room. Essentially, the miner moves along a predetermined route equipped with readers, allowing data to be collected on both the miner and the cap lantern as it passes through these predetermined points.

The system combines an RFID reader network with a mining enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. The system obtains time and field data from the human resources module of the mining ERP system. Time and field data are integrated with the item release information of the miner's lamp room. The item release information of the miner's lamp room is collected from the RFID reader. In the past, these integrated data were usually used to prepare bills related to the use of miner's lamp rooms and equipment, as well as management information. Using a smart light system, a list of all units can be given to facilitate billing.

3 System features

The main benefit of the smart light system using RFID and system integration is that it can track the miners passing through the turnstiles and mark the workers' path from the ground to the underground. Since the first system was tested and installed, the system read success rate has been 100%, and the system can track the movement of equipment and miners on a continuous basis. The implementation of RFID tracking (system) can provide for the second phase of mine safety inspections. , the information generated by the system allows any miner to quickly identify their location if they have not returned to the lamp room after their shift.

By tracking and recording the number of shifts performed each day, the RFID system captures information such as the number of employees working underground per shift and the maintenance status of safety devices. A complete maintenance history is essential for all equipment and processes that were once managed manually. of. Equipment that has been repaired or maintained is recorded into the repair platform through the RFID system. A miner's lamp is equipped with a unique identification number and can then be used again. All repaired and replacement parts can be captured by their unique lamp number, thus building a complete service log. The smart light system keeps a complete list of spare items, components and their respective prices, making it possible to track costs and usage of spare items and components. The electronic generation of some necessary reports reduces the need for labor and reduces human errors.

The RFID system integrates smart light application software and also takes into account security verification at turnstile passage points. Access to the shaft through the turnstiles is only allowed if the miner has an assigned miner's lamp, a fully equipped self-rescue kit and portable gas detection equipment. The information collected through the RFID system prevents counterfeit use of identification cards and prevents other people from entering and exiting the mine, because only qualified miners have barcode ID tags. The miner's barcode number and the RFID tag number of his equipment must be entered with him. The codes assigned by the previous intelligent database match the RFID data obtained from the readers (transponders) and are converted into various reports according to the needs of each mining site, locating the movement of personnel. Loss of equipment, and tracking removal of equipment for repair or exchange.

  4 Conclusion

Before this system was put into operation, the monthly loss rate of miner's lamps in a specific location was as high as 25%. There is no mechanism to identify the device and link it to a specific individual. It is impossible to indicate who lost or damaged it. Now it is very different. The adoption of the "lamp for life" concept allocates responsibility to individuals, so that the holder of the miner's lamp acts as the owner of the miner's lamp. The connection of the miner's ID code to the ID code of the miner's lamp tag makes the owner of the assigned equipment responsible for the loss or damage of the equipment. As with the initial stages of any important technology, employee training is required for successful RFID deployment. Key factor. Once the correct technology is identified, personnel are trained to accept the system. will become an important challenge. Although some miners are skeptical of the new system and view it as a test mechanism for them, everyone in the mine is very clear about the benefits brought by the RFID system. It improves the safety mechanism of mine operators, makes equipment maintenance and management more cost-effective, and more importantly, controls equipment loss and makes it possible to manage equipment usage more accurately.