Abstract

Almost 50% of deaths and more than 12% of accidents in underground mines are caused by falls of bedrock. These rock falls are usually preceded by displacements that are almost impossible to detect visually. This project will develop an affordable system, based on existing high-resolution digital photography and image-processing software, that detects rock-wall displacements by comparing digital images of the walls of mine galleries at different times. This will allow high-risk zones to be identified and appropriate preventive measures to be applied.