RUBEE IN UNDERGROUND COAL MINES

by:Subhash Kumar*, P. K. Mishra, P. K. Mandal and A. KushwahaCSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research Barwa Road, Dhanbad, Jharkhand -826015

WHAT IS RUBEE?

RuBee or P1902.1 is an on-demand, Bidirectional,

peer-to-peer network protocol that uses long

wavelength (under 450 kHz) transceiver mode.

The protocol is similar to WiFi (IEEE 802.11), ZigBee

(IEEE 802.15.4) and Bluetooth (IEEE 802.15).

It relies on low-frequency magnetic waves to track

products and transfer information, therefore, also

called LFID.

It excels in situation where RFID has limitations.

RUBEE VS RFID

RFID (IEEE 802.15.4) RuBee (IEEE P 1902.1)

Signal Type RF (EM) type Magnetic type

Frequency High and Ultra High Low Frequency(<450kHz)

Read Speed (tags per sec) 100-200 6-10

Battery Life 1-4 years More than 10 years

Range 1-100 m 1-20 m

Bandwidth 20-150 Kbps Small

Data Storage Capacity 4 -32KB 5KB

Network Size (Nodes) 64,000 8

Security Low High

Node Cost $0.05-$4 $0.1-$10

Base Station Cost $500-$1,500 $1 - $200

THE RUBEE TAGS

Chip

Tag

BatteryCrystalCapsSensors

IMPLEMENTATION IN UG MINES…

Buried objects detection

Trapped miners tracing

Detection of misfire.

HOW ???

BURIED OBJECTS DETECTION

In case of ROOF FALL, the mine machinery goes underneath the coal. To detect their location is a challenge.

This problem can be mitigated by attaching these equipments with RuBee tags.

BURIED OBJECTS DETECTION

Transmit TX

Base Station

Receive RX

LF Magnetic Wave

BURIED OBJECTS DETECTION

Transmit TX

Base Station

Receive RX

LF Magnetic Wave

TRAPPED MINERS TRACING

A RuBee tag can be installed in the miner’s caplamp; in case of accidents such as STRATA FAILURE/FLOODING the miner’s position can be easily traced.

TRAPPED MINERS TRACING

Transmit TX

Base Station

Receive RX

LF Magnetic Wave

Hi Base! I m here...

Obstacle

TRAPPED MINERS TRACING

Transmit TX

Base Station

Receive RX

LF Magnetic Wave

Hello Tag! Where r u???

Obstacle

DETECTION OF MISFIRE

In case of BLASTING, some explosives may remain misfired.

If prior to BLASTING, RuBee tags are attached with the explosives, the misfired can be detected.

DETECTION OF MISFIRE

Tagg

ed

Expl

osiv

es

DETECTION OF MISFIRE

Misfi

red

Expl

osiv

es

Transmit TX

Base Station

Receive RX

DETECTION OF MISFIRE

Misfi

red

Expl

osiv

es

Transmit TX

Base Station

Receive RX

MAJOR CONCERNS OF RUBEE TO IMPLEMENT IN UG MINES…

Design of a feasible and compatible antenna for

low frequency. Microstrip Patch Antenna

MAJOR CONCERNS OF RUBEE TO IMPLEMENT IN UG MINES…

Design of feasible and compatible antenna for

low frequency.

The readability of RuBee can be affected by the

relative position and orientation of the tag and

the reader antenna

RuBee protocol have to use anti-collision

mechanism

Slow read rate (6-10 per second)

Shorter range

CONCLUDING REMARKS…

RuBee is not a replacement of RFID; it is actually an alternative.

RuBee tag radiates very low power (40 nW) which is within the safety limit of power rating for explosives.

The RuBee tags also satisfy the safety rules of IEC 60079-0.

REFERENCES… Accenture White Paper, 2001. Radio Frequency

Identification (RFID), White Paper. August, J., Waterhouse, P., Stevens, J. K.,

Vandenberg, M. L., Truong, K., 2007. Low frequency tag and system, US Patent Application: 20070063895.

Bandyopadhyay, L. K., Chaulya, S. K. and Mishra, P. K., 2010. Wireless Communication in Underground Mines: RFID–based Sensor Networking, Springer.

Bolic, Miodrag (Editor), Simplot-Ryl, David (Co-Editor), Stojmenovic, Ivan (Co-Editor), 2010. RFID Systems: Research Trends and Challenges, Wiley.

CONTD… Brown, W. C., 1984. The history of power

transmission by radio waves, IEEE on Microwave theory and Technique, Vol. 32, No. 9, pp. 1230-1242.

Finkenzeller, K., 2003. RFID Handbook—Fundamentals and Applications in Contactless Smart Cards and Identification, second ed. Wiley, New York.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RuBee#RuBee_tag_details. Accessed on 01-01-2013.

Landt, J., 2005. The history of RFID, IEEE potentials, Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 8-11.

Mishra, P. K., Bolic M., Yagoub, M. C. E. and Stewart, R. F., 2012. RFID Technology for Tracking and Tracing Explosives and Detonators in Mining Services Applications, Journal of Applied Geophysics, Vol. 76, pp.-33-43.

CONTD… Nogee, A., 2004. RFID Tags and Chip: Changing

the World for Less than the Price of a Cup of Coffee. In-Stat/MDR.

Oracle & Visible Assets Inc., 2010. An introduction to RuBee Technology, White Paper. http://www.rubee.com/Partners/Oracle/RuBee%20White%20Paper%20-%20v3.pdf. accessed on March 24, 2010.

Schuman, E., 2006. RuBee Offers an Alternative to RFID.

Waterhouse, P., Verge, C. W., Vandenberg, M. L., Truong, K. , Stevens, J. K., August, J., 2006. Networked RF tag for tracking freight, US Patent no.: 7049963.

Wyld, D. C., 2005. RFID: The right frequency for Government, IBM Center for the Business of Government.

Stevens, J. K., john@rubee.org, Visible Assets, Inc. RuBee™ Visibility Networks IEEE P1902.1 (Pending), Nov 2006

Thank You…

FINDINGS… RuBee is not a replacement of RFID; it is

actually an alternative. Because RuBee uses such a low frequency it

does not consume much power and has a 5-years to 15-years battery life using simple Lithium coin-size batteries with a range of 1″ to 50 feet.

RuBee tags overcome many of the technological problems seen with RF near steel and water.

RuBee is safe and cost effective as the power consumption is very less.

Maxwell's Equations

THE RUBEE TAGS

ChipCrystalSensors

Tag

Battery

THE RUBEE TAGS

ChipSensorsCrystal

Antenna Tag

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…

Director, CSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Dhanbad

Ministry of Coal, Govt of India, New Delhi

CMPDI, Ranchi