On the Application of IoT: Slope Monitoring System for Open-cast Mines Based on LoRa Wireless Communication

Both wireless sensor networks (WSN) and the Internet of things (IoT) have evolved to aid real-time monitoring systems. Long range (LoRa) provides a framework solution for the IoT which has captivated ample consideration from the society lately. A low power, long range, and energy efficient solution is desirable specially to monitor slope failure in open-cast mines. Due to extreme environmental conditions of mines, the mine officials and workers are becoming more impoverished as they cannot have an improved smart mine monitoring system. Thus, analysed and illustrated the field tests of LoRa in this paper which focuses on the coverage range and capacity of LoRa in open space. The results obtained, shows that LoRa can be considered a suitable solution to deliver the requirements of mining industry. The experiment is conducted in open space or an area of non-line of sight (NLoS). The data transmission is successfully carried out up to 2.3 km in NLoS condition. Based on the flagship features of LoRa; a slope monitoring system is proposed which can prove promising for the mining industry. This system can wirelessly transfer slope data to the miners and mine offices via long range signals provided by LoRa.