As a global technology leader that provides advanced hardware and software solutions to the mining industry, GroundProbe says it is “excited to announce the release of our first solution developed specifically for underground geotechnical convergence monitoring, the GML-Underground.”
GroundProbe officially launched the Geotech Monitoring LiDAR (GML-Underground) at their exhibition booth at the inaugural International Conference in Underground Mining Technology 2017 in Sudbury, Canada. The GML is a high resolution and highly precise convergence monitoring system capable of detecting rock and ground support movement with sub-millimetre accuracy.
“We have taken the best of radar – namely its precision – and added it to the benefits of laser,” said Lachlan Campbell, GroundProbe’s VP of Marketing and Technology. “The results speak for themselves. GML-Underground is a high resolution, sub-millimetre, full coverage system that is plug-and-play with SSR-Viewer.”
The GML-Underground has a huge 360° x 270° full dome scan coverage; it is not affected by metal, mesh or bolts; it is lightweight, portable and is easy to use. “We figured out early on that radar is not the right technology for underground monitoring,” said Campbell. “It is bulky; it is affected by metal and mesh; and it can be subject to “multipath” – a process whereby radar beams ricochet around the underground tunnel before being measured causing inaccuracies in the data.”
In addition, through significant development of existing technologies and the application of GroundProbe’s signal and data processing techniques; the technology’s accuracy, speed and resolution attributes are cited as world-first. Using GroundProbe’s patented processing technique and software, the GML is 170 times more accurate than existing solutions.
“Since long before I joined GroundProbe, our customers have been asking us if we have a solution for convergence monitoring in underground mines,” said John Beevers, GroundProbe’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. “After many years of research and development, I’m proud to announce that we do.”
Since the release of the SSR-SARx in 2015, GroundProbe has prided itself on being the only radar technology agnostic company in the market; the only vendor in the world that offers all slope stability radar technology solutions – 3D Real Aperture Radar, 2D Real Aperture Radar and 2D Synthetic Aperture Radar.
This radar technology agnostic nature allows GroundProbe to tailor monitoring solutions specific to customers’ needs and the addition of the GML-Underground further deepens this position, adding laser-based technology to GroundProbe’s range of open-cut and underground systems.
