Mine personnel positioning and disaster early warning system and method

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of mine safety monitoring, and particularly relates to a mine personnel positioning and disaster early warning system and method. In the aspect of positioning, the multi-path effect and signal shielding of a metal ore body are overcome through combination of an ultra wide band and an inertial navigation compensation algorithm, precise tracking of a complex environment is realized, and the position failure hidden danger of a key region is eliminated; in the aspect of disaster response, the linkage platform associates personnel positions, environmental parameters and equipment states in real time, the response delay of emergency situations such as gas over-limit is shortened to the second level from more than 3 minutes, and the evacuation efficiency is improved; in the aspect of enhancing the reliability of the system, a time division multiple access protocol reduces communication conflicts, and the intrinsic safety type terminal meets the requirements of underground gas and dust environments and prolongs the endurance through intrinsic safety certification. The system has intellectualization and compatibility, data islands are broken through by adopting a standardized interface, an active risk avoiding mechanism is linked with equipment control and path planning, the false alarm rate is reduced, and technical support is provided for mine safety.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of mine safety monitoring technology, specifically to a mine personnel positioning and disaster early warning system and method. Background Technology

[0002] As a core component of the energy industry, mine safety production has long faced challenges from complex geological environments and high-risk operating conditions. The underground environment is characterized by complex spatial structures, strong electromagnetic interference, and severe signal attenuation. While some progress has been made in underground personnel positioning and disaster early warning technologies, existing solutions still have significant shortcomings in terms of positioning accuracy, system integration, response mechanisms, and communication reliability.

[0003] Regarding personnel positioning technology in underground mines: To address the unique characteristics of the underground environment, existing personnel positioning systems mostly employ Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) technologies. However, in areas with severe signal obstruction, such as tunnel corners and mining faces, these technologies suffer a sharp decline in positioning accuracy due to non-line-of-sight (NLOS) errors, sometimes even resulting in complete loss of location information. Although existing technologies, such as Chinese Patent CN110067598B, attempt to suppress NLOS errors by fusing Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) and Time of Arrival (TOA) algorithms, their positioning stability remains insufficient in the dynamic and complex underground environment, failing to fundamentally solve the blind zone problem. Furthermore, some solutions utilize inertial navigation units, which, when operating independently, experience position drift due to accumulated errors, with drift rates reaching several meters per minute, failing to meet the requirements for long-term accurate positioning. The positioning system suffers from insufficient accuracy and reliability, and monitoring blind zones exist.

[0004] Regarding disaster early warning and response mechanisms: In terms of disaster alarms, existing technologies largely rely on environmental sensors or personnel behavior analysis. Chinese patent CN107328413B discloses a mine disaster alarm system based on personnel location, which determines whether a disaster has occurred by monitoring whether the movement speed of underground personnel exceeds a set threshold and persists for a certain period of time. Although this method incorporates personnel behavior characteristics, its alarm triggering conditions are relatively simple, essentially remaining a reactive alarm mode. More importantly, in the systems described in this prior art and Chinese patent CN209942883U, the personnel positioning subsystem and the environmental monitoring subsystem typically operate independently, resulting in poor data coordination. When environmental sensors detect parameters exceeding limits, the system cannot automatically and quickly link this information with precise personnel location information for analysis and execute active control commands such as equipment power lockout, leading to a delay in the response chain from hazard perception to protective action.

[0005] Regarding system communication and terminal performance: The reliability of the communication network is fundamental to ensuring the stable operation of the entire system. In scenarios where multiple devices communicate concurrently underground, severe wireless channel conflicts can easily lead to data packet loss, affecting the real-time transmission of alarm information and location data. Furthermore, many existing positioning terminals have shortcomings in power consumption control, resulting in short battery life that is insufficient to meet the needs of long-term underground operations. In terms of safety design, they have not adequately optimized the circuits to an intrinsically safe level for the flammable and explosive environment of mines, posing potential safety hazards.

[0006] In summary, the existing technology has the following main shortcomings: (1) Positioning technology is prone to interruption or accuracy degradation in areas where signals are blocked, and lacks an effective mechanism to ensure continuity.

[0007] (2) The disaster early warning system is not linked with the personnel positioning system and the production control system, the level of intelligence is low, and the emergency response delay is high.

[0008] (3) Communication reliability in complex underground environments needs to be improved, and the battery life and intrinsic safety design of terminal equipment need to be further strengthened.

[0009] Therefore, there is an urgent need in this field for a comprehensive solution that can achieve high-precision, continuous positioning throughout the entire mine and can deeply integrate environmental monitoring and equipment control to achieve rapid and intelligent emergency response. Summary of the Invention

[0010] In view of this, the present invention aims to solve the problems of insufficient local positioning accuracy in underground environments, delayed disaster response, and loss of location in signal-blocked areas, and provides a mine personnel positioning and disaster early warning system and method.

[0011] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides the following technical solution: a mine personnel positioning and disaster early warning system, including an intrinsically safe positioning terminal, a positioning base station network, a disaster linkage control platform, and a communication network architecture.

[0012] The intrinsically safe positioning terminal integrates an ultra-wideband communication module and an inertial measurement unit. The key feature is that when the ultra-wideband signal is interrupted or of poor quality due to obstruction, the positioning terminal can automatically switch to an inertial navigation compensation mode based on the inertial measurement unit and maintain continuous position tracking through a pedestrian dead reckoning algorithm.

[0013] Furthermore, the casing of the intrinsically safe positioning terminal has passed the intrinsic safety certification for mining applications, and its internal circuitry integrates a short-circuit current limiting module.

[0014] Furthermore, the pedestrian dead reckoning algorithm achieves position compensation in the following ways: basic position is updated based on data from the inertial measurement unit; the magnetic declination of the tunnel is introduced to compensate for the heading angle, and an adaptive model is used to estimate the step size; the heading angle is corrected and the step size is constrained using the tunnel topology model.

[0015] The positioning base station network is deployed in the mine roadways to receive ultra-wideband signals transmitted by terminals and obtain their precise location coordinates through algorithms such as time difference of arrival.

[0016] The disaster linkage control platform is the core of the system. It receives and integrates location data from positioning terminals, environmental sensor data distributed throughout the well, and status data from production equipment in real time.

[0017] Furthermore, the disaster linkage control platform is configured to execute a three-level disaster response mechanism: the first-level response is to trigger local and regional alarms when personnel enter the electronic fence restricted area; the second-level response is to automatically lock the power supply of relevant equipment when environmental parameters exceed the limits and personnel are located in the associated area; and the third-level response is to dynamically generate and push the optimal obstacle avoidance and escape path based on the roadway digital model and real-time risks.

[0018] The communication network architecture consists of a backbone fiber optic ring network and a wireless ad hoc network relay layer.

[0019] Furthermore, the wireless ad hoc network relay layer employs a time-division multiple access protocol to manage the channel, thereby supporting large-scale concurrent terminal communication and reducing data packet loss rate.

[0020] The present invention also provides a disaster early warning method based on the above system, the method comprising the following steps: real-time acquisition and fusion of multi-source data; automatic triggering of equipment interlocking control when conditions are met; dynamic generation of evacuation paths based on roadway topology and real-time risk; and pushing path instructions to relevant positioning terminals and rescue equipment.

[0021] Furthermore, real-time environmental risk data is introduced to update obstacle coordinates during the calculation process of dynamically generating the optimal avoidance path, and the results are visualized using augmented reality devices.

[0022] The beneficial effects of this invention are as follows: (1) In terms of positioning performance, high-precision seamless positioning is achieved: the ultra-wideband communication module combined with the anti-interference mechanism effectively overcomes the signal distortion problem caused by the metal structure of the tunnel, realizes accurate and stable tracking of personnel position in complex environments, and completely solves the industry pain point of excessive positioning deviation of traditional technology; the inertial navigation compensation mode combined with the tunnel topology constraint algorithm effectively overcomes the positioning problem in the signal-obscured area, ensuring that personnel can still maintain reliable positioning in blind areas such as corners of the mining face, and eliminating the hidden danger of loss of position information.

[0023] (2) In terms of disaster response mechanism, the intelligence and timeliness of disaster response have been improved: through deep integration of multi-system data and three-level response mechanism, the real-time correlation between personnel location, environmental risk and equipment action is established, from passive alarm to active protection, the disaster response time is shortened from minutes to seconds, and key interlocking operations are automatically executed, which greatly improves safety.

[0024] (3) In terms of disaster response mechanism, it provides scientific emergency avoidance methods: through improved path planning algorithm, safe and efficient escape routes are dynamically generated, and rapid protection measures are automatically triggered in emergency situations such as gas over-limit, and the optimal avoidance path is generated simultaneously, which greatly improves the efficiency of accident handling and the probability of personnel survival.

[0025] (4) In terms of overall system integrity, the reliability of system communication and terminal performance has been enhanced: through optimized communication protocols and intrinsically safe terminal design, the stability and safety of the system in harsh underground conditions have been improved from both data transmission and equipment hardware levels, ensuring the long-term reliable operation of the system.

[0026] Other advantages, objectives, and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following examination, or may be learned from practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention can be realized and obtained through the following description. Attached Figure Description

[0027] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the present invention clearer, the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 A flowchart for the positioning system of mine personnel and disaster early warning system; Figure 2 A flowchart for the risk avoidance and early warning system for mine personnel positioning and disaster early warning. Detailed Implementation

[0028] The following specific examples illustrate the implementation of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present invention from the content disclosed in this specification. The present invention can also be implemented or applied through other different specific embodiments, and various details in this specification can be modified or changed based on different viewpoints and applications without departing from the spirit of the present invention. It should be noted that the illustrations provided in the following embodiments are only schematic representations of the basic concept of the present invention. Unless otherwise specified, the following embodiments and features can be combined with each other.

[0029] The accompanying drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are schematic diagrams, not actual pictures. They should not be construed as limiting the invention. To better illustrate the embodiments of the invention, some parts in the drawings may be omitted, enlarged, or reduced, and do not represent the actual product dimensions. It is understandable to those skilled in the art that some well-known structures and their descriptions may be omitted in the drawings.

[0030] In the accompanying drawings of the embodiments of the present invention, the same or similar reference numerals correspond to the same or similar components. In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that if terms such as "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "front," and "rear" indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, they are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, the terms used to describe positional relationships in the drawings are only for illustrative purposes and should not be construed as limiting the present invention. For those skilled in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0031] This invention provides a mine personnel positioning and disaster early warning system and method, which are described below in conjunction with the appendix. Figure 1 , 2 The present invention will be described in further detail below.

[0032] The system can be divided into a downhole section and a surface section.

[0033] The above-ground components mainly include: a disaster linkage control platform, a data server, and network switches, which are deployed at the ground dispatch center.

[0034] The underground portion mainly includes: This intrinsically safe positioning terminal is worn by underground workers. Its core processor uses a low-power ARM architecture and integrates an ultra-wideband radio frequency chip (UWB) and an inertial measurement unit (IMU), such as the DW1000 or MPU9250. The terminal casing is intrinsically safe for mining applications, and the internal power management module integrates overcurrent, overvoltage, and short-circuit protection circuits.

[0035] The positioning base station network consists of multiple intrinsically safe positioning base stations, deployed along the roadway at regular intervals, such as 50 meters apart, and connected to the industrial ring network via fiber optic cables or cables. Each base station has a built-in high-precision clock synchronization module for Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) positioning.

[0036] Environmental sensors, including those for methane, carbon monoxide, temperature, humidity, wind speed, and pressure, are connected to the system via wired or wireless means.

[0037] Communication network: The backbone is a gigabit industrial Ethernet fiber optic ring network, and intrinsically safe wireless repeaters are deployed in the wireless coverage area to form a wireless ad hoc network relay layer.

[0038] See Figure 2 The system's positioning flowchart shows the positioning process as follows: Step 1: When the UWB signal is good, the terminal communicates with at least three positioning base stations through the UWB module, and the TDOA positioning algorithm calculates the high-precision position coordinates at the meter or centimeter level to update the basic position.

[0039] Step 2: The system continuously monitors the UWB signal quality. When the system determines that the signal is interrupted or the signal-to-noise ratio is below the threshold, it automatically triggers Step 3, switching to inertial navigation compensation mode and using the tunnel topology model to correct the heading angle and constrain the step size.

[0040] Step 3: In inertial navigation mode, the IMU continuously collects triaxial acceleration and angular velocity data.

[0041] Step 4: The core processor executes the pedestrian dead reckoning algorithm. First, it uses a zero-speed detection algorithm to determine the moment of foot landing, resets the speed error, and updates the baseline position.

[0042] Among them, s k Let θ be the step size at the k-th step. k Let be the heading angle at step k.

[0043] Next, by combining data from the magnetometer and gyroscope, compensating for the local magnetic declination, the heading angle θ is estimated. true :

[0044] Among them, M x M y The reading is the magnetometer reading, δ is the local magnetic declination, and ω is the magnetic field reading. c This is due to the hard iron tolerance of the equipment. Simultaneously, step size is estimated using step frequency detection and an adaptive model:

[0045] Among them, s k Let be the step size of the k-th step, η be the calibration coefficient, and a be the step size of the k-th peak and a valley σ is the extreme value of acceleration within one gait cycle. a For the variance of acceleration, σ ref This is a reference variance value; Step 5: Match the calculated position and heading with the preset digital map of the tunnel topology. Correct the personnel heading to the correct tunnel direction using a formula and constrain the step size:

[0046]

[0047] Where, θ true Let θ be the heading angle. road_i Let d be the direction angle of lane i. p The vertical distance to the center line of the tunnel. S is the engineering distance correction parameter. constrained To constrain the step size, s k Let d be the step size at the k-th step. to_node The distance to the nearest topology node. The parameters are adjusted for the engineering step size.

[0048] Step 6: Once the UWB signal is restored, the system immediately switches back to UWB positioning mode and uses the absolute coordinates of UWB to calibrate the inertial navigation system.

[0049] The system's risk avoidance and early warning process is as follows: Step 1: The disaster linkage control platform receives all data in real time, acquires the digital model of the tunnel, acquires real-time environmental risk data, runs the risk analysis model, updates obstacle targets, and determines dangerous areas.

[0050] The method for determining a dangerous region is: if and only if point p ∈ edge e ij When p∈D, is danger (e ij ) = 1; otherwise is danger (e ij ) = 0; where p is the danger point, D k This is a dangerous area. danger (e ij ) is the hazard delimitation function.

[0051] Step 2: The platform determines whether anyone has entered the preset restricted area electronic fence. If so, step 303 is executed, triggering the vibration alarm on the terminal and broadcasting a warning message to the area.

[0052] Step 3: The platform determines whether any environmental sensor data exceeds a safety threshold. If so, it analyzes whether any personnel are located within the hazardous area associated with that sensor.

[0053] If the result of step 3 is yes, proceed to step 4: The platform immediately sends a power-off interlock command to the equipment controller in that area, such as the controller of a coal mining machine or conveyor belt, to achieve automatic interlocking.

[0054] Simultaneously, step 5 is executed: the platform initiates dynamic path planning. Starting from the current location of the affected personnel and targeting the safety exit or refuge room, the optimal path is calculated using an improved A* algorithm based on the tunnel topology model. The cost function of this algorithm is the dynamic hazard area, which ensures that the generated path is as short as possible while staying as far away from the hazard source as possible.

[0055] The path cost function used is: Where g(v) is the actual cost from the starting point to node v; h(v) is the heuristic cost from node v to the target; dist(v, D) is the heuristic cost from node v to the target. k ) represents the distance from node v to the danger zone D. k The shortest distance to the boundary; α and β are decay parameters, and β≥2; λ is the penalty weight coefficient.

[0056] The optimal path must satisfy Where p is the real-time path, D k d represents the boundary of the danger zone. safe This is a preset safe distance threshold.

[0057] Dynamic obstacle avoidance update: When a new danger zone D is added... new At that time, E danger = E danger ∪{ e ij | is danger (e ij D new )= 1};where E_danger is the set of dangerous edges.

[0058] Step 6: The generated obstacle avoidance path is pushed to the location terminal of the affected personnel in real time. Arrows will indicate the direction on the terminal's display screen. Simultaneously, the path information is also sent to the rescue personnel's terminals or augmented reality devices to provide them with visual navigation.

[0059] At the communication level, all wireless repeaters work in coordination through the time division multiple access protocol, allocating a specific time slot for each terminal to communicate, effectively avoiding data packet collisions, and ensuring that critical information such as alarms and path instructions can be transmitted stably with an extremely low packet loss rate in large-scale scenarios where hundreds of people work simultaneously.

[0060] In summary, this invention provides a mine personnel positioning and disaster early warning system comprising an intrinsically safe positioning terminal, a positioning base station network, a disaster linkage control platform, and a communication network; and employs a disaster early warning method that utilizes real-time data acquisition, automatic environmental over-limit control equipment, and obstacle avoidance path generation and push notifications to improve positioning accuracy and disaster response speed, enhance system reliability, and optimize intelligence and compatibility.

[0061] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention and are not intended to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications or equivalent substitutions can be made to the technical solutions of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and all such modifications or substitutions should be covered within the scope of the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A mine personnel positioning and disaster early warning system, characterized in that, include: The intrinsically safe positioning terminal integrates an ultra-wideband communication module and an inertial measurement unit, which is used to automatically switch to inertial navigation compensation mode when the ultra-wideband signal is interrupted. A positioning base station network is deployed in mine roadways to receive signals from the positioning terminals and calculate their location coordinates using a time difference of arrival algorithm. The disaster linkage control platform is used to integrate the location data of the positioning terminal, the monitoring data of the environmental sensor, and the status data of the production equipment in real time. The communication network architecture includes a backbone fiber optic ring network and a wireless ad hoc network relay layer, which are used for data transmission between various components within the system. The communication architecture network provides a two-way data transmission channel between the intrinsically safe positioning terminal, the positioning base station network, and the disaster linkage control platform, uploading the location coordinates to the platform and sending alarm signals or control commands to the terminal or associated devices.

2. The mine personnel positioning and disaster early warning system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The inertial navigation compensation mode employs a pedestrian dead reckoning algorithm, which achieves position compensation through the following steps: S201: Update the basic position based on the data from the inertial measurement unit; S202: The magnetic declination of the tunnel is introduced to compensate for the heading angle, and an adaptive model is used to estimate the step size; S203: Use the tunnel topology model to correct the heading angle and constrain the step size.

3. The mine personnel positioning and disaster early warning system according to claim 2, characterized in that, In the pedestrian dead reckoning algorithm, the formula for calculating the heading angle for magnetic declination compensation in the tunnel is as follows: Where, θ true For the heading angle, M x M y The reading is the magnetometer reading, δ is the local magnetic declination, and ω is the magnetic field reading. c This is due to the hard iron tolerance of the equipment. The formula for calculating the step size estimate is: Among them, s k Let be the step size of the k-th step, η be the calibration coefficient, and a be the step size of the k-th peak and a valley σ is the extreme value of acceleration within one gait cycle. a For the variance of acceleration, σ ref This is the reference variance value.

4. A mine personnel positioning and disaster early warning system according to claim 2, characterized in that, The method for correcting the heading angle in the tunnel topology model is as follows: Where, θ true Let θ be the heading angle. road_i Let d be the direction angle of lane i. p The vertical distance to the center line of the tunnel. For engineering distance correction parameters; The method for constraining the step size is as follows: Among them, S constrained To constrain the step size, s k Let d be the step size at the k-th step. to_node The distance to the nearest topology node. The parameters are adjusted for the engineering step size.

5. A mine personnel positioning and disaster early warning system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The disaster response and control platform is configured to execute a three-level disaster response mechanism, including: When a person enters a pre-set restricted area of ​​the electronic fence, a local alarm is triggered on the terminal and an area broadcast is activated; When environmental sensor data exceeds a safety threshold and the positioning terminal is located in the associated area, the power supply to the relevant production equipment is automatically locked. Based on the digital model of the tunnel and real-time environmental risk data, obstacle avoidance and escape routes are dynamically generated and pushed to the positioning terminals of affected personnel and rescue equipment.

6. A mine personnel positioning and disaster early warning system according to claim 4, characterized in that, The method for dynamically generating obstacle avoidance and escape paths is as follows: S601 Dangerous Area Determination: Dangerous point p ∈ edge e ij When p∈D, is danger (e ij ) = 1; otherwise is danger (e ij ) = 0; where p is the danger point, D k This is a dangerous area. danger (e ij ) is the hazard delimitation function; S602 Dangerous Path Calculation: Path Cost Function, using an improved A* algorithm. Where g(v) is the actual cost from the starting point to node v, h(v) is the heuristic cost from node v to the target, and dist(v, D) is the heuristic cost from node v to the target. k ) represents the distance from node v to the danger zone D. k The shortest distance to the boundary, α and β are decay parameters, and β≥2, λ is the penalty weight coefficient; S603 Safety Distance Verification: Path P must meet the following requirements. Where p is the real-time path. D k d represents the boundary of the danger zone. safe To preset a safe distance threshold; S604 Dynamic Obstacle Avoidance Update: When a new hazardous area D is added... new At that time, E danger = E danger ∪{ e ij | is danger (e ij D new ) = 1}, where E danger This is the set of dangerous edges.

7. A mine personnel positioning and disaster early warning system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The wireless ad hoc network relay layer uses a time division multiple access protocol to manage the concurrent communication access of a large number of terminals; the shell of the intrinsically safe positioning terminal has passed the intrinsic safety certification for mining, and its internal circuit integrates a short-circuit current limiting module.

8. A method for personnel positioning and disaster early warning based on the system described in any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: S901: Real-time acquisition and fusion of personnel location coordinates, environmental parameters, and production equipment status data; S902: When environmental data exceeds the safety threshold and personnel are located in the associated area, the equipment interlock control is automatically triggered; S903: Based on the tunnel topology model and real-time risk data, the optimal risk avoidance path is dynamically generated; S904: Push the generated evacuation path instructions to the location terminals and rescue equipment of the affected personnel.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The calculation process for dynamically generating the optimal avoidance path incorporates real-time environmental risk data to update obstacle coordinates, and the results are visualized using augmented reality devices.

Images