GPS-Based Proximity Warning System for Mining and Construction Equipment

Thomas Holden and Todd Ruff

Abstract:	Each year, an average of six fatalities occur in surface mines that involve a collision between a piece of mining equipment and a smaller vehicle or pedestrian worker, or involve a piece of mining equipment going over the edge of a dump point. Researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Spokane Research Laboratory, in Spokane Washington, in cooperation with Trimble Navigation, Inc., Sunnyvale, California, are developing a proximity warning and edge detection system based on global positioning system (GPS) technology and wireless network communications. A prototype system successfully demonstrated that vehicle location information can be transmitted between multiple mobile vehicles. Each vehicle’s system consisted of a Trimble GPS antenna and receiver, a laptop computer for data collection and display, and Internet Protocol (IP) radio PC cards. This paper describes the system components, the software interface, and tests conducted at Trimble and NIOSH. In the prototype phase of this project, we have shown that GPS technology can provide an effective means of tracking the locations of nearby vehicles and providing a warning to the equipment operator if other vehicles are dangerously close. Additional tests, completed this summer, verified system operation on surface mining equipment, but also revealed problems that were associated with a constantly changing environment. These problems included GPS satellite availability, location update rates, and operator interface issues. Other issues that need to be addressed in future work include the protection of pedestrian workers and methods to insure system reliability.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 14th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 2001) September 11 - 14, 2001 Salt Palace Convention Center Salt Lake City, UT
Pages:	517 - 525
Cite this article:	Holden, Thomas, Ruff, Todd, "GPS-Based Proximity Warning System for Mining and Construction Equipment," Proceedings of the 14th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 2001), Salt Lake City, UT, September 2001, pp. 517-525.
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