Within the scope of the project signed between the Turkish Coal Authority and TÜBİTAK MAM, the production of a remote-controlled mobile robot that will provide the first intervention in search and rescue operations after mining accidents has been completed and field tests were successfully carried out at TKİ Tunçbilek-Ömerler Mine Quarry.

Since 1941, the number of miners who have lost their lives in mining accidents due to cave-in, grizu explosion, gas poisoning, flooding and inundation has exceeded 4 thousand. Although some of these casualties occurred at the time of the accident, the majority of them were caused by the inability to reach the surviving miners in time after the accident.

In search and rescue operations after mining accidents, since the current conditions of the mine and galleries after the accident are not known, the search and rescue team directly enters into a possible danger and the operations are carried out very slowly in order not to jeopardize life safety. In addition, in some cases, search and rescue operations cannot be fully carried out because the smoke or dust that emerges after the accident obstructs visibility.

With the remote controlled search and rescue robot designed within the scope of the project, mine accidents can be intervened immediately. The robot is sent to the mine before the search and rescue team in case of cave-in, fire and gas leakage. Thanks to the video equipment and gas sensors on the robot, the data showing the current environmental conditions and danger situation in the mine can be monitored by the rescue team before entering the mine. Thus, mine accidents can be intervened more quickly and surviving miners can be reached in a shorter time, while the life safety of the rescue team is ensured. Especially in smoky conditions where intervention cannot be carried out due to lack of visibility, search and rescue operations can be continued thanks to the images taken from the thermal camera on the robot.