When the lives of miners are in danger, or the workers self-escape from a hazardous environment is impeded, mine emergency response systems must respond and deploy rapidly. The post-accident mine environment may significantly increase the mission’s risk and the stress on the rescue team. Any delays in the rescue mission can cost the lives of the trapped miners. Self-escape and mine rescue heavily rely on each individual’s level of skills and preparedness to make the correct decision. Introducing an intelligent system to assist mine personnel and mine rescue team during an emergency will significantly improve the likelihood of success while reducing the risks to miners. 

This research is an interdisciplinary collaboration to improve self-escape and mine rescue through innovative robotic and autonomy solutions. In this project, we will design and demonstrate intelligent evacuation and rescue systems for underground mining applications. The multi-agent system is a combination of ground and aerial vehicles with complementary capabilities to complete a rescue mission. Second, we will develop algorithms to assist miners to find the safest and fast paths to safety. The algorithm relies on the existing communication and tracking system incorporating human factors into the simulation models. We will also design a new communication system to optimize locating, tracking, and communicating with trapped miners and provide AI-assisted self-escape when possible.