Collaboration Results In First Wireless Phone Call From Inside A Coal Mine
Malvern, PA — Rajant Corporation, a provider of portable networking solutions, Sanmina–SCI, an Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) provider, and Hannah Engineering, a professional consulting engineering firm specializing in civil and mining applications, announced that they have collaborately demonstrated the first-ever wireless phone call from inside a coal mine to outside POTS extensions. Calls were made to several different endpoints in multiple states from 1,000 feet underground, at a National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) facility near Pittsburgh, PA.
The collaborative project was in support of statewide rulings from West Virginia and the new 2006 federal regulations, included in the June 2006 Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response (MINER) Act, to improve the preparedness and effectiveness of emergency responders in coal mines. Both the state legislation and the MINER Act require mining companies to install improved wireless communications and tracking solutions to provide optimal safe working conditions for miners.
"Safety within mines relies on having the most current communication solutions," said Bob Schena, Chairman, Rajant Corporation. "The combined solution from Rajant, Hannah Engineering, and Sanmina-SCI offers a breakthrough in how miners can communicate, and be tracked, within a mine. This solution will go a long way to make sure our mines will be safe for our workers."
The system will be deployed as Hannah Engineering's Wireless Integrated Technology System (WITS), which provides a complete end-to-end solution for improved communications within coal mines. The WITS system utilizes the networking capabilities of Rajant and Sanmina-SCI to offer wireless communications and personnel tracking from within the mine by connecting a host of disparate communication devices.
Rajant BreadCrumb® technology was deployed in the mine, which delivered instant, portable, mesh-networking capabilities to VoIP phones within the mine. BreadCrumb units were hand deployed, thereby enabling the network to move as the miners moved. The networking components also facilitated tracking of miners. In operational situations, should an emergency situation arise, miners would easily be located within the mine by using Rajant's BCAdmin network monitoring software.
Sanmina-SCI's Defense & Aerospace Systems Division provided their REDI-COMM™ system, which interfaced with the BreadCrumb network and allowed the miners communication devices to be easily linked with emergency radio systems, other critical communication networks, and POTS phone lines. The Defense & Aerospace Systems Division will soon offer a specialized version of their MP1 phone system that will be uniquely configured and certified for underground use.
"We have been working on an integrated solution for almost one year," said Dewayne Hannah, President of Hannah Engineering. "Only through the collaborative effort of our work with Rajant and Sanmina-SCI could this breakthrough in a communication solution for mines be possible. By delivering a complete system, coal mines can more quickly meet the new regulations, improve safety, and have better response mechanisms in the case of an emergency. We are looking forward to commercial deployment of the solution and to making our mines safer."
SOURCE: Rajant, Hannah Engineering, and Sanmina-SCI