Log Day 61
021025
We are committed to experimental entry of an abandoned mine at Sunday noon.
Pumping proceeds apace, and mine floor is visible at the breach. Condition in the breach
looks challenging for a first experiment. Conditions for access to the breach are
improving due to tremendously supportive actions for us by the mine. (Tiffany or Chris
or Ed,… would you email one or two images to m-map?)
A snippet of an old mine map and guess about our breach location yield a possible
understanding of what we might encounter. Our understanding will evolve from
speculation to great clarity as our exploration proceeds, and this will be a gratifying part
of our experiment.
Distant parts of our mine are classic room-and-pillar, but not where the breach is
available to us. The style of mining in the area of the breach appears not to be the classic
room-and-pillar. Our part of the mine could have driven narrow entries, then removed
coal in long, narrow cuts made perpendicular to the entries, and emanating from only one
side of the entries. The geometry could be like a hair comb, where the entry is the spine
of the comb and the parallel, narrow, dead-end side cuts are the teeth. The narrrow cuts
may dead-end without means for turnaround. The long, narrow cuts may not have
passages between them for turning. We are guessing that the reason for the narrow-ness
and little connectivity might be inability for longer roof spans. Circumstances are
suboptimal, but we are grateful for the opportunity, and we are committed to the
experiment.
422 board is talking. This is a huge breakthrough that enables concurrent serial devices.
Gas detectors, laser rangers and cameras are now viable. Loan of converter to hi-speed
USB is an option made available to us, should we choose or need.
Composition of video feed is for Charleston
Ferret scans are now corrected for spherical distortion, and now appear highly realistic.
(Aaron, would you email a Ferret scan to m-map?)
We held a spontaneous open house for the robotic mine mapping community. Besides our
inner RI circle, including Chuck Thorpe, friends stopped by from CS, Bill Harbert
stopped by from Pitt (and the governor’s commission on abandoned mine safety), Carl
Mahler came over from tech transfer, and Sol Gross visited as an investor from
Workhorse Technologies. It was good for us to gather, and for others to see the robot,
since experimental risks are such that the robot could be lost at any operational moment.
Preparations for our Charleston Booth and remote telepresence proceed apace. We can
uplink to a satellite from our mine and get the time on a satellite. What we need now is a
way to bring data down in Charleston…. and content.