Radar waypoint navigator for underground mining

A radar-based sensor for underground mine localisation is described. The sensor is designed to mount on mine machinery travelling along developed mine tunnels (roadways), directly measuring distance to the tunnel walls and inferring progression along the tunnel using waypoint navigation principles. A sensor test platform and mine-site trial is described, wherein the performance of the radar-based sensor is compared to direct measurements from a suite of laser scanning measurement instruments. The radar-based system achieved the required measurement accuracy for ranging to the tunnel walls, and also achieved promising results for roadway progression for cases where the targeted waypoints were relatively distinct. Related research on radar target identification for waypoint discrimination is noted.