Professor Ian Reid and Dr Tat-Jun Chin are part of a team that has just been awarded an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant of $240,000 over 3 years. They will be working with James Howarth of Maptek Pty Ltd on technology to support the digital mapping of mines.

The creation of high quality survey data is integral to productivity and safety in mining and mining exploration. The current state-of-the-art mine surveying involves scanning from a number of fixed points using laser range-finding equipment (LIDAR). The aim of this project is to develop camera systems and computer vision algorithms to improve the speed and accuracy of this digital mapping of mines, to allow accurate mapping in locations denied GPS, and in locations where LIDAR cannot be deployed. The project aims to develop methods to assess these data to detect long-term trends such as shifts in mine drives which may be indicative of stress build-up. The new technology intends to impact both productivity and safety within mining.

Maptek™ is a leading provider of innovative software, hardware and services for the global mining industry. Maptek products are in use at more than 1700 sites in over 65 countries, supported by professional and technical services in a worldwide network of 13 offices. Maptek products include Vulcan™, I-Site™ BlastLogic™, PerfectDig and Eureka™.