Innovations promise to boost signals, detect gases anywhere, and provide continuous tracking without cables or junction boxes
by jesse morton, technical writer
South Africa’s primary miner union recently presented a list of concerns to the government that speak to the startling increase in miner fatalities there. The list mostly focused on issues related to worker fatigue but closed with an emphasis on the need for improved modes of communication. That need is both timeless and universal among miners around the world, especially underground miners. In response to that need, in the last two years, emergent underground communications technologies hit the market promising to solve some historically formidable challenges. A quick review of those technologies reveals both the viable options now available and the general direction of the evolution of such technologies.
