Geotechnical Instruments, Like People, Function Better as Part of a Network

“No man is an island” is an old saying that many people are familiar with. Essentially, it means that we are better off when we are connected to others than in isolation. It is for this reason that social and professional networks are a popular and important part of our society.

Although they are inanimate objects rather than human beings, the same principle actually applies to geotechnical instruments. Each instrument may be doing its job perfectly well and measuring what it was designed and intended to, but it only realizes its full potential when it is connected, along with many similar and diverse instruments, to a network.

These sensor networks make it possible for information to be obtained from many sensors and collated at a single central point, after which it can be made easily available to specialists who use this data to make surface mines or other large infrastructures safer and more productive.

There has been a distinct move in recent times towards using wireless systems to monitor geotechnical instruments in mining, civil engineering, infrastructural management and similar operations. This trend makes perfect sense because comprehensive systems that are composed of many geotechnical instruments (and possibly other monitoring devices as well) that are read automatically and make the data immediately available are much more efficient and more useful than older systems that relied on manual data gathering.

Wireless networks are also a better choice than those that gather data digitally, but are dependent on a cable network that can be costly and difficult to install and maintain.

When it comes to connecting and monitoring an array of geotechnical instruments, the Loadsensing LS-G6 Surface Wireless Data Acquisition System (Supplied by MDT) is the logical choice. Click here for more information about this comprehensive and versatile system.