Robotic Safety
Designing certified safety systems for robotic mining applications guaranteeing the safety of miners and the equipment
What?
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Deploying robots in a mine requires compliance to strict safety regulations
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Our robots use tools and motors that can be dangerous to humans working nearby (power saws, heavy mobile structure)
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Our safety systems need to be properly designed, implemented and tested
How?
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I studied international safety standards (ISO 13848, ISO 13850, IEC 61508) to familiarize myself with proper design of safety equipment
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I performed proper calculations to estimate safety performance levels from component mean-time-to-dangerous-failure (MTTFd), diagnostic control (DC), and safety system architecture standards
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I selected proper components and designed safety relay multiplexers to design emergency stop systems compliant with international regulations
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I put in place digital operational procedures (standard operational procedures, maintenance, contingency) that allow operators to be safe and quickly react to emergencies
Results
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Certified emergency stop system that passed strict mine regulation standards
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Year-long test campaign in client's underground mine with zero accidents (continuation of OffWorld's impressive no-accident record in mine deployments)
