Operator drowsiness detection in surface mines

#This is the United States National Phase of International Patent Application No. PCT/CH2014/000088, filed Jun. 26, 2014, which claims priority to AU 2013206671, filed Jul. 3, 2013. The entirety of each of the foregoing priority applications is hereby incorporated by reference.

#The invention relates to methods and devices for operator drowsiness detection, in particular in surface mines.

#Surface mines and similar sites or areas are generally operated by means of a large number of vehicles, some of which may be exceedingly large and difficult to control and have very limited visibility for the operator.

#Embodiments of the invention are described in the following detailed description. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings, wherein:

#FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a surface mine 999 with movable object 4a, 4b, 4c, 5, 6, and 7, and a fixed object 9 (building), wherein each movable object 4a, 4b, 4c, 5, 6, and 7 contains a drowsiness detection device 200 according to the invention,

#FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a drowsiness detection device 200 according to the invention, and

#FIG. 1 schematically depicts a surface mine 999 with movable objects 4a, 4b, 4c, 5, 6, and 7 to each of which embodiments of the inventive drowsiness detection device 200 are attached. Typically, such a surface mine 999 covers a large area, e.g., in the range of square kilometers, with a network of roads 2 and other traffic ways, such as rails 3. A plurality of fixed and movable objects 4a, 4b, 4c, 5, 6, 7 and 9 is present in the mine, such as: Large vehicles, such as haul trucks 4a, cranes 4b, or excavators 4c. Vehicles of this type may easily weigh several hundred tons, and they are generally difficult to control, have very large braking distances, and a large number of blind spots that the operator 1 (i.e., the driver 1 in case of vehicles) is unable to visually monitor without monitoring aids, such as, e.g., outside cameras with cabin mounted display monitors. Medium sized vehicles 5, such as regular trucks. These vehicles are easier to control, but they still have several blind spots and require a skilled operator 1. Small vehicles 6. Typically, vehicles of this type weigh 3 tons or less. They comprise passenger vehicles and small lorries. Trains 7.

#All the above objects may qualify as movable objects 4a, 4b, 4c, 5, 6, and 7. A further type of object within the mine is comprised of stationary obstacles, such as temporary or permanent buildings 9, open pits, boulders, non-movable excavators, stationary cranes, deposits, etc. Those objects qualify as “fixed objects”.

#The risk of accidents in such an environment is high. In particular, the large vehicles can easily collide with other vehicles or obstacles. For this reason, one, more or all objects in the surface mine 999 are provided with a collision avoidance system 12, 12b that supports the generation of collision warnings for the personnel on the site, and in particular for operators 1 of the movable objects and/or the shift supervisor 1 in the fixed building 9, thereby reducing the risk of collisions and accidents. As known to the skilled person, each movable object may include a collision avoidance system 12, 12b comprising a receiver for a radio based positioning system interacting with satellites 16. These collision avoidance systems 12, 12b communicate to collision avoidance systems 12, 12b of other objects in a wireless manner, in particular by radio signals. Preferably, each collision avoidance system 12, 12b comprises a GNSS (the abbreviation GNSS stands for “Global Navigation Satellite System”) for identifying its position, i.e., the position of the assigned movable object or at least a movable part of the object in the case of the collision avoidance systems 12b. Such a GNSS can comprise a GPS system or a Galileo system. Other types are possible as well such as pseudolite systems, a WiFi-based Real Time Location System (RTLS), etc. Alternatively or in addition, distances and/or positions (via triangulation methods) can be measured using runtime measurement devices such as radio detection and ranging device, a light detection and ranging device, a sound detection and ranging device or an active RFID ranging device, and/or signal strength measurement devices.