3 Reasons Why Battery Powered Wireless Monitoring Makes Sense in Underground Mines

A mine-wide monitoring network comprised of various geotechnical, hydrological, and other monitoring instruments is one of the keys to effective safety and productivity management in any underground mine. Battery powered wireless monitoring networks offer several advantages, including:

1.  Cost-effectiveness. Because battery powered wireless nodes are self-powering, there is no need to create a power grid to run the sensor network or hard wire into an existing grid, and there is no need for costly materials (and some types of electrical cable are becoming prohibitively expensive) or labor required to perform the often complex hard-wiring.

2.  Easy to deploy, expand and re-configure. The nodes used to set up a battery powered wireless monitoring network are self-powered and very easy to install and activate. Therefore, they can be very rapidly deployed and activated – often in only a matter of hours, compared to days, or even weeks, required to set up a network that depends on hard-wired power. Adding on extra nodes to expand the network or removing and redeploying some nodes elsewhere as the needs of the mine changes is just as simple.

3.  Minimal Maintenance Requirements. The nodes that form the basis of a battery powered wireless monitoring network are simple, rugged, and almost never require any maintenance. The internal batteries that power the nodes generally last for at least three years, and in some cases up to ten years. Overall, these networks are fuss-free and extremely easy to maintain.

The MDT RTU wireless node is the ideal building block for most types of battery powered wireless monitoring networks because it is rugged and simple to install, yet full of high-tech features and almost completely maintenance-free. Contact us now to find out more.