Development of a wireless communication system for tracking environmental conditions from different locations of subterranean mines to the surface utilizing IoT based ZigBee modules

The mining sector is recognized for its precious minerals, which are extracted from beneath the earth's surface. Numerous industries have gained advantages by implementing automation, leading to improved management of operations, increased safety, continuous monitoring, and greater cost-efficiency. Given the challenges faced in underground mining, a dependable wireless communication and monitoring system is essential to improve safety and mitigate significant hazards. The conditions in underground mines are influenced by various environmental factors such as highly toxic gases, flammable and inflammable gases, and small dust particles. Fluctuations in the levels of hazardous gases pose a significant concern, potentially resulting in gas explosions and harming the mine's infrastructure. At present, most underground mines use traditional multi-gas detectors to manually check for mine gases at regular intervals or once daily. This paper suggests a real-time safety system for industrial environments in underground mines and it outlines the approach to implement IoT in subterranean mining environments to assess environmental variables, the configuration of sensor installation in underground locations, gas threshold limits, and disasters in underground mines resulting from gas explosions. The establishment of wireless message communication between two ZigBee modules is explained in detail, and radio range tests are investigated. Wireless connection can also be set up to keep an eye on the environmental conditions of subterranean mining levels from the surface. Additionally, wireless communication was set up to keep an eye on the environmental conditions of a underground mine's straight and curved tunnels.The experimental outcome suggests that ZigBee modules may successfully communicate wirelessly over straight tunnels between 100 and 120 meters apart, with a decrease in signal intensity and loss of data packets in underground mines' curving tubes. Furthermore, it demonstrate that the ZigBee-based system can be created is appropriate for assessing environmental factors in both underground and open surface mines.