ASTANA — The Astana Hub International Technopark of IT startups has presented a unique robotic complex — a robot dog — designed to improve safety in Kazakhstan’s mines. The dog specializes in inspecting mines and detecting potential gas leaks, Kazinform reported on Dec. 24.
Photo credit: Soltan Zheksenbekov/Kazinform.
The robot was created by the development and innovation department of the Almaty branch of the Park of Innovative Technologies autonomous cluster fund.
“Every year, a significant number of workers die at enterprises in Kazakhstan either from gas leaks in mines or from gas explosions. The latter occur due to untimely response to gas leaks. Thus, bypassing mines, eliminating people and the human factor from such life-threatening situations, allows us to prevent emergency situations and ensure workplace safety,” explained Darina Mamyrova, the head of the department.
The robot is equipped with a 360-degree camera, a thermal imager, and a Kazakh-designed gas analyzer. It can operate both autonomously and manually.
“While the robot is walking around the mine, whether in autonomous or manual mode, the gas analyzer collects data on the condition and quality of the air. In case of any abnormal levels of carbon dioxide or oxygen, it automatically sends an alert to the control center beyond the mine. Thus, the dispatcher can quickly respond to this situation and evacuate workers,” Mamyrova added.
In October last year, an explosion occurred at the Kostenko mine in the Karagandy Region, which claimed the lives of 46 miners. The robot has already been tested at the Nurkazgan mine of the Kazakhmys company.
