Harvey Dent: SmartGuard (An IoT-Enabled Surveillance Robot for Mining Safety)

Abstract

Mining involves extracting materials, such as coal, from underground.Common mine workers encounter dangerous risks such as hazardous accidents and extreme underground environments.To facilitate communication between miners inside the mine and outside rescue teams, we are creating a robotic interface that will leverage the Internet of Things (IoT) to send warning messages or alerts. Our various sensors, along with the components Raspberry Pi, PI camera, MQ sensor, PIR sensor, DHT 11, and ultrasonic sensor, will assist us in providing accurate data regarding the conditions within the coal mine via the Internet of Things. As a result, based on the obtained monitoring data and notifications, the rescue team will be sent out.

Introduction

The text discusses the inherent dangers of underground coal mining, emphasizing the risks miners face due to hazardous conditions and the limitations of traditional monitoring methods, which often expose humans to danger. To improve safety, the “Harvey Dent: SmartGuard” project proposes an IoT-based robotic system equipped with various sensors (gas, temperature, humidity, motion, obstacle detection) and a camera, controlled remotely via wireless communication (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth). This robot enables real-time hazard detection, remote surveillance, worker safety monitoring, disaster response, predictive maintenance, and autonomous patrolling without risking human lives.

The system uses a modular design with Raspberry Pi as the central control, Python programming, and wireless data transmission through platforms like Telegram Bot API and VNC. Challenges include harsh mine environments, communication limitations underground, robot mobility, power management, data security, and cost. Despite these, the project offers significant contributions by automating hazardous monitoring, enhancing emergency response, and enabling data-driven safety improvements in mining operations.

Conclusion

The project\'s main goal is to send a prototype surveillance robot to help rescue workers stay safe in hazardous environments, such coalmines. After incidents like explosions, the robot is dispatched into dangerous areas to measure the temperature and gas content, providing crucial data for safe rescue operations. Future improvements include adding more sensors, like oxygen and humidity sensors, for a more thorough environmental study and using longer-range transceivers for extended coverage. Including a robotic arm would improve operational functionality by making sample collection and cleaning easier. Better components can be included in the prototype to enable real-time, efficient deployment in additional risky scenarios.

References

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Copyright

Copyright © 2025 Sanskriti Verma, Er. Shivam Dixit(Project Coordinator), Er. Aayush Singh(Project Guide), Er. Shubham Kumar(Project Mentor). This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.