Application of Computers and Operations Research in the Mineral Industry –

Dessureault, Ganguli, Kecojevic & Dwyer (eds)

© 2005 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 04 1537 449 9

Remote geomechanical instrumentation system developments and

experience

K. Judge & M.C. Bétournay

CANMET Mining and Mineral Sciences Laboratories, Natural Resources, Canada

ABSTRACT: Instruments to measure various rock mass response types now function with electronic compo-
nents, which makes it possible for data to be transmitted rather than locally logged. However, many instruments
have no interface capability, while many others have no networking or multi-user capabilities. Considerable
development was undertaken in the area of mine-wide communication and network protocols by the CANMET
Mining and Mineral Sciences Laboratories in order to make data available anywhere in real time. The work pre-
sented here was part of its Ground Control Program’s Deep Mining Core Research Project. This article presents
advances in data transmission systems and hardware and software solutions to gain on-line access to various
types of devices. Three case studies of monitoring instruments and sensor applications demonstrate required
conventional instrument modifications, as well as hardware and software applications.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 NETWORKS AND PROTOCOLS

Engineering projects located in underground or sur- Historically, the CANMET Mining and Mineral Sci-
face rock masses depend on engineering design for ences Laboratories (MMSL) Ground Control Program
initial stability determination but must include ground had used loggers and sensors for taking readings or
response evaluation in order to maintain safe and downloading data of rock mass displacements, and
functional conditions. elastic response, on an intermittent basis. Given the
Various types of instruments are used to measure drive for mine automation, real time data availabil-
opening periphery movement, intra rock mass dis- ity, central data acquisition and a global mine warning
placements and rock mass response (elastic, inelastic). system, considerable development was undertaken in
Historically these have functioned under mechanical the area of mine-wide communication and networking
movements. Since the advent of printed circuit tech- protocols. This has included the specification, instal-
nology, miniaturization and fiber optic cables, the lation and use of different networks, which might be
range and coverage of ground control instruments have used in the mining environment.
made it possible for more sensitive delineation of mate- Hardware should be selected based on its compat-
rial properties from less complex instruments and for ibility with the existing or proposed network equip-
data transmission to any point of delivery, via differ- ment. Typically, this hardware will interface to sensors
ent modes of storage, from data loggers to computers using voltage, current or logic level outputs. One
and to personal communication devices. The deliv- of the case studies outlined in this article used this
ery of the information in format and in real time is approach through a leaky feeder network. A work-
only limited by the budget available. However, many ing knowledge was first gained on a number of
instruments have no interface capability, while many different networks: hardware devices to support
others support RS-232 communications, but have no the RS-485 networks which allows 1,200 m hops
networking or multi-user capabilities. Challenges also between nodes (B&B Electronics 1997) which is bet-
exist in the long distances between instruments com- ter suited for underground use (where long cable runs
mon in a mining context and the related networking between nodes with power are common) compared to
difficulties. RS-232 standard which may support cable lengths of
Advances in data transmission via a mine’s existing 30 m (but its use is generally limited to about 8 m
communication system and provision of hardware and (Strangio 1997). The RS-485 and RS-232 serial com-
software solutions to gain on-line access to various munication standards define the hardware portion of a
types of devices will be highlighted in this article. network.

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 Modicon’s ModbusTM and Siemen’s ProfibusTM • Different protocols may be employed from one
are serial communications protocols, which provide channel to the next;
an addressable network (Modicon 1996) (Siemens • Damage to a cable does not always render the system
1999). They use specifically structured sets of com- inoperable; and
mands in conjunction with compatible devices. They • Cabling may already be in place and supported by
are commonly found in mines where they often employ the mine for voice communications.
RS-485 links to communicate with Programmable A disadvantage is that supporting such a network
Logic Controllers (PLCs) to operate underground ven- requires continuous troubleshooting, maintenance and
tilation and pumping equipment. The commands are repair. In addition, the transmitters and receivers are
sent over the network from a surface “master” with an expensive and repeaters are required every 350 meters
address header and an error checking value. Under- or less depending on the number of splitters, couplers
ground “slaves” monitor network communications and splices in the segment.
for commands with headers containing either their Local Area Networks (LANs) can provide ver-
specific address or a broadcast address. Individual satile solutions. Based on the expertise attained by
“slaves” respond to these commands and reply, if CANMET-MMSL in using Ethernet protocols, LANs,
required, with the “master’s” address in the header. Wide Area Networks (WANs), associated hardware
ProfibusTM is used in this manner at CANMET- and the Internet has pointed out the limitation of 100 m
MMSL’s Experimental Mine (described in a later hops for metallic cable runs, making it necessary to
section). use fiber optic cable to provide network connections
Many loggers and instruments use these addressing in many mine areas. While cost is a factor, there are
schemes, but unfortunately many specialized devices many advantages to using the Ethernet, most notably
do not support these protocols. As a result, the proto- the variety and availability of equipment.
col must be integrated with these devices if they are to
operate on such a network. Three general solutions
have been developed to meet this requirement. For
those devices with no interface capability, an exam- 3 SOFTWARE
ple of which is a vibrating wire strain monitor (for
elastic rock response monitoring) that requires unique CANMET-MMSL had been using graphical program-
excitation and read-out hardware and network inter- ming software (LabViewTM ) and developed a number
face, used an RS-485 network, but could have been of drivers and subroutines to address data acquisition,
made to work over the leaky feeder network. The monitoring and control solutions. Software upgrades
second solution is for devices with serial communi- included National Instruments’s BridgeViewTM and
cations ports that are incompatible with, or unable to more recently to the Developer SuiteTM , to better
interface to the network. An example would be a ded- address its Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
icated logger using an RS-232 interface to download (SCADA) needs. With the latter software, solutions
data directly to a computer. The devices may be con- may be compiled and freely distributed in executable
nected to the network by using addressable network format. The LabViewTM runtime engine is required
switches. The switches act as gatekeepers to enable obtainable from the National Instrument website.
one device at a time to be addressed, by an overriding Other National Instrument Run-time engines may be
selection program, then by using the equipment spe- required and are available on a cost per site basis.
cific software to communicate directly with the device. LabViewTM , BridgeViewTM , and Developer
The third solution is for those devices that require SuiteTM provide flexibility as they build off other
extended communications to perform their task and applications through Dynamic Link Libraries (DLLs),
thus use considerable bandwidth. In this case the inter- Active X controls, Data Socket ServersTM , the Internet,
face will handle the communications with the device etc. LabViewTM can also incorporate code written in
and pass data to the network, which can have the added other languages, such as Microsoft’s VisualTM C++
advantage of interpreting data such as waveforms. and Visual BasicTM . The National Instrument’s Web
The leaky feeder can replace the RS-485 network. site has drivers for over 1,600 instruments such as
The system communicates using the ModbusTM pro- oscilloscopes, counters and data acquisition systems,
tocol, which is modulated on RF channels and sent all of which can speed up solution development.
out over partially shielded coaxial cable. This partial
shield allows signals to leak in and out of the cable. A
series of amplifiers/repeaters transmit the signals up 4 CASE STUDIES
and down the network. Some of the advantages are:
• Direct connection into the system is not necessary; Three cases of monitoring instruments and sensors
• Increased protocol flexibility since there are multi- were demonstrated for this purpose: laboratory RS-
ple channels; 485 network and addressable ‘smart switches’, use

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 (Distributed Smart Switch) has an 8-bit address selec-
tion switch (yielding 256 switches, up to 32 on any
one network segment). They are controlled by sim-
ple binary commands sent out over the network at
9600 baud (request for a switch acknowledgement; all
switches off; turn on one switch, others off ). Once a
switch has been turned on, it will pass signals from the
network to the serial device to which it is connected,
until it is turned off. If binary communications are
required, the baud rate may be changed to something
other than 9600 and the switches will ignore any sub-
sequent commands. The system employed is portrayed
in Figure 2. Lengths of 1,524 m of 2-pair instru-
ment cable were connected between the 485PTBR, the
485OPs and one 485DSS. The RS-485 standard calls
for a limit of 1,200 m between nodes, but the network
functioned with the extra length. The 486 PC computer
acted as a ModbusTM slave. It had a data acquisition
board installed in it which ran a routine to read the
strain monitor.
The slave computer demonstrated an interface solu-
tion consisting of a combination of software and hard-
ware. It acted both as an interface to the network and
as a readout for the vibrating wire sensor. Such a com-
Figure 1. B&B Electronics hardware used in the laboratory puter could be connected to more than one sensor (see
demonstration B&B Electronics (1997).
the Experimental Mine case study). In the laboratory
case, a compiled LabViewTM program was composed
of mine leaky feeder network and the Modicon of a subroutine which emulated a ModbusTM slave
ModbusTM protocol, and the use of a fiber optic LAN while the other, through a series of iterations, strobed
with a high level instrument driver and acquisition sys- the vibrating wire sensor and determined its reso-
tem, at the CANMET-MMSL Experimental Mine, to nant frequency. In this case, the control computer
transmit data which can be accessed on site or remotely would turn on the appropriate 485DSS switch and
(Judge 2004). The related applications used personal then communicate with the slave computer using the
computers. But, ‘Real Time’computers, operating sys- ModbusTM protocol. While this was double “address-
tems and software are available, filling a need for ing”, it demonstrated the possible flexibility of the
robust, dedicated, applications underground. software solutions. This ModbusTM emulator could be
used to network sensors onto an existing leaky feeder
network (see the Nanisivik case study).
Once the 485DSS is selected for either the RBR
4.1 Laboratory
logger or the TDR cable tester, appropriate propri-
At the CANMET-MMSL Ottawa Laboratories, a sys- etary software and specifically developed LabViewTM
tem using the master-multiple slaves architecture routines were used to communicate with the devices.
allowed computer access to a variety of different A more detailed LabView ModbusTM slave sub-
sensors by providing them with a “smart” interface routine was developed for the Experimental Mine
for serial communications, and also allowed the con- case study. XL.exeTM , the RBR logger software, was
trol computer to access certain RS-232 serial devices successfully used to interrogate the XL-800.
that did not already have networking capabilities. Initially, the system was operated in the two-wire
This was set-up to simulate remote acquisition from mode using the second pair for power. In this case,
a Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) cable tester, the repeaters were powered from the supplies at the
a data logger, and a vibrating wire strain monitor. control computer and XL-800 ends of the network.
The first two are devices with RS-232 interfaces This demonstrated that up to 3,600 m spans between
but no networking capabilities. The latter is a sen- power sources could be achieved. The system was
sor with no interface requiring special excitation and then operated in the four-wire mode to allow the flex-
readout. A network was configured using RS-485 soft- ibility for both full and half duplex communications,
ware controlled addressable “smart switch” converters as well as, locally providing power for the repeaters.
(485DSS), optically isolated repeaters (485OP) and an For power and full duplex communications, a 3-pair
RS-485 converter (485PTBR) (Figure 1). The 485DSS cable can be used.

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 Figure 2. Block diagram of the RS-485 network demonstrated in the laboratory.

Figure 3. A simplified block diagram of the leaky feeder network employed at the Nanisivik mine.

A DOS-based program was provided with the B&B control network switches, to provide drivers for the
equipment to select network switches. CANMET- devices connected to the network, to collect informa-
MMSL have written an equivalent selector program tion from them, to monitor, log and display informa-
in LabViewTM . Ultimately this could be used to tion, create alarms, as well as page individuals and

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 Internet WAN Internet
Gateway Gateway
UTP LAN
UTP LAN < 100 meters < 100 meters
NIC NIC
Data Socket Server SC Fiber LAN Data Socket Server
Lab View Subscriber ~ 400 meters Lab View Subscriber
Val d’Or - Surface Bells Corners
Subscriber Subscriber

FS562
90 Level

SC Fiber LAN
~ 300 meters

FS562
130 Level

UTP LAN
< 100 meters

NIC
Data Socket Server
Lab View Publisher Val-d’Or - 130m
TDR & MUX GMM Publisher
Driver Reader
COM1 LPT1 NI-MIO

SP232
Tektronix Autek Wiring
+5 V
1502B 31 MUX Panel
16

Demo

1 2 3 1 2 ....... 15

Figure 4. A block diagram of the network being used for the CANMET-MMSL experimental mine monitoring.

to make the information available on the LAN or voice data. A channel was reserved for ground con-
Internet. trol monitoring. A master was installed at the mine
office on surface, four slaves underground in the main
ore zone. Each of these was connected to eight GMMs
to monitor the movements of the roof (Figure 3).
4.2 Nanisivik mine
LookoutTM was used to acquire, monitor and log
CANMET-MMSL personnel used the existing data from these slaves. Screen displays were provided
El-Equip “Leaky Feeder” network of the Nanisivik to monitor over a single reading, hourly, per shift and
Mine, NorthwestTerritories, to monitor Ground Move- weekly basis. Data was logged to a CitadelTM database
ment Monitors (GMMs) throughout the main ore zone using Structured Query Language (SQL) commands
(Judge 1998). The network was used originally for and plots for movement versus time were generated

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 Figure 5. Graph of reflected signal vs distance showing series of appended windows (slices).

Figure 6. Graph of reflected signal vs distance showing the absolute value data.

for each GMM. In addition, the engineering group into the TDR cable tester along with a fourth cable, vis-
established alarm levels based on movement, and ible in the laboratory, for deformation demonstration
alarm events were indicated on the display. Different purposes. A computer in the lab monitors the sensors
log on authorities were set up to allow access to alarm and publishes data to the LAN. A fiber optic cable runs
acknowledgements and alternate screen displays. The from the surface to an Ethernet switch on the 90 m level
system was also able to monitor communications and from there to another switch in the laboratory on
failures. Audible alarms were eventually established the 130 m level.
through the use of paging. Each switch has two fiber optic connections and
six 10/100 Mbps UTP ports. The data are available
anywhere on the WAN using the appropriate display
4.3 CANMET-MMSL Experimental Mine software. In theory, the data should be available any-
A monitoring station was installed at the 130 m level where on the internet. The serial communications port
of the mine to access 6-point extensometers and RF on the cable tester is connected to the RS-232 port
transmission cables. The RF cables were multiplexed (COM1) of the computer and the multiplexer’s control

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 Figure 7. Typical TDR data as published to the LAN.

connector is connected to the printer port of the com- communications systems. Also, a number of hard-
puter via a specially wired cable. The MPBX cables ware and software solutions have been developed and
are connected, via a wiring panel, to the analog inputs drivers have been written to enable various monitor-
of a multifunction computer input/output board. The ing system types to access a wide range of sensors
network is shown in Figure 4. and loggers via networks for different geomechani-
The TDR cable tester acquires waveform data of cal applications. The arrangement possibilities may
distance versus cable impedance. Data is acquired one be considered as a set of tools that may be used for
window at a time and windows are appended to pro- problem/site-specific requirements; one or more of
vide a complete waveform (Figure 5). To collect the these networks, protocols and solutions may be used
data for each window requires a number of instructions to provide a mine-wide monitoring system.
and the resulting array of data can be rather large, and
several cables might be multiplexed at one location.
Receiving this data and issuing data acquisition com- REFERENCES
mands requires considerable communication network
bandwidth. LabViewTM was used in a subroutine to B&B Electronics 1997. RS-422 and RS-485 application
handle communications between the cable tester and a note. B&B Electronics Manufacturing Company, Ottawa,
computer. It compares baseline readings from cables Illinois, www.bb-elec.com
Judge, K. 2004. On-line geomechanics data by mine-wide
with current readings and displays the difference. The
communication systems. Division Report CANMET-
absolute value of the signal is taken for analysis of MMSL 04-98 (OPJ), CANMET Mining and Mineral
maximum amplitude and the distance along the cable sciences Laboratories, Natural Resources Canada
(Figure 6) at which it occurs. The information is placed Judge, K. 1998. Ground movement monitoring
in an array, which is published to the LAN (Figure 7). system – Can-Zinco’s Nanisivik Mine, NWT. Divi-
Running in parallel with the TDR driver is another sion Report CANMET-MMSL 98-038 (CR), CANMET
LabViewTM subroutine that reads the voltages from the Mining and Mineral Sciences Laboratories, Natural
extensometers configured as voltage dividers. Base- Resources Canada. MODICON Inc. 1996. ModbusTM
line voltages are subtracted from these signals and a protocol reference guide. PI-MBUS Rev. J., Industrial
Automation Systems, North Andover, Massachusetts,
calibration factor is applied to the difference to calcu-
www.schneiderautomation.com
late millimeters of movement. Sensor and excitation Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services 1999. ProfibusTM
voltages, as well as movement data are placed in to and As-Interface FieldbusTM components. Catalog ST PI
an array, which is also published to the LAN. This is Strangio, C.E. 1997. The RS-232 standard: a tutorial
done by a proprietary TPC protocol called Data Socket with signal names and definitions. CAMIresearch Inc.,
ServerTM . A “publisher” (the 130 m level computer) www.camiresearch.com/data_com_basics/rs232
publishes data to the network for “subscribers” (e.g. standard.html
engineer in Ottawa).

5 SUMMARY

Considerable development has been achieved in

the specification, installation and use of mine-wide

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