A Comprehensive Review of Applications of Drone Technology in the Mining Industry

Abstract

This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of the current state of drone technology and its applications in the mining industry. The mining industry has shown increased interest in the use of drones for routine operations. These applications include 3D mapping of the mine environment, ore control, rock discontinuities mapping, post-blast rock fragmentation measurements, and tailing stability monitoring, to name a few. The article offers a review of drone types, specifications, and applications of commercially available drones for mining applications. Finally, the research needs for the design and implementation of drones for underground mining applications are discussed.

Introduction

Drones, including unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) and micro air vehicles (MAVs), have been used for a variety of civilian and military applications and missions. These unmanned flying systems are able to carry different sensors based on the type of their missions, such as acoustic, visual, chemical, and biological sensors. To enhance the performance and efficiency of drones, researchers have focused on the design optimization of drones that has resulted in the development and fabrication of various types of aerial vehicles with diverse capabilities.

The use of aerial vehicles for industrial applications goes back to the 19th century. In 1860, balloons were used to take pictures for remote sensing purposes. In 1903, pigeons carrying a breast-mounted aerial camera were used for photography. Around the beginnings of World War I, aerial torpedoes, which are known as the origin of drones, were developed. In recent years, attention to research and development of unmanned aerial vehicles has been growing by academic and industry communities worldwide

Depending on the defined mission, drones are generally classified widely based upon their configurations. Drones can be grouped into nine categories, such as fixed-wing, flapping wing, rotary-wing, tilt-rotor, ducted fan, helicopter, ornithopter, and unconventional types.

Drones have a variety of capabilities for both military and civilian utilization. These capabilities, along with the demand for unmanned technologies, has resulted in the integration of drones into civil practices. Toward this end, new unmanned aerial vehicles are being developed that can perform various missions in a variety of environments. For example, drones are utilized in a vast range of civilian applications such as search and rescue, surveillance, firefighting, weather monitoring, surveying, power infrastructure monitoring, and urban planning and management. Drones have also been used for building environment monitoring and urban traffic monitoring, ecological and environmental monitoring, species distribution modeling, population ecology, and ecological monitoring and conservation. Archeology and cultural heritage, human and social understanding, personal and business drones for photography and videography, and even delivery services are other applications of drones. In addition, unmanned aerial systems have been successfully used in different industries, such as agriculture, oil, and gas, construction, environmental protection, mining, etc.

Recently the mining industry has shown increased interest in the use of drones for routine operations in surface and underground mines. This study aims to conduct a review of the application of drone technology in the mining industry. For this purpose, previous studies and information from the companies that provided drones for mining industries are explored. In this paper, the applications of drones in surface and underground mines are reviewed. Applications of drones in surface and underground abandoned mines are also highlighted. Furthermore, the commonly used sensors on mining drones are presented. The challenges in using drone technology in underground mines and potential solutions to those barriers are discussed.

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by 

Javad Shahmoradi, Elaheh Talebi, Pedram Roghanchi and Mostafa Hassanalian