Design & Implementation of a Microcontroller-Based Mobile Detonator
Initiation System
Abstract
Electro explosive devices (EEDs) are used in both military and civilian
applications to initiate explosives. Currently, the wireless solutions
used for initiating EEDs commonly use star network topology. As the
control distance in the star topology increases, so does the power
requirement and hence the weight of the batteries. In Additionally,
safety issues may arise when initiating EEDs over short distances when
low-power transceivers are used. In this study, a microcontroller-based
mobile system that uses mesh network topology to initiate EEDs was
proposed. Within the scope of this study, a system consists of an
initiation control unit, remote ignition units, a mobile device layer,
and a charge unit have been developed. EED initiation delays in the
proposed system can be programmed using a mobile device. Thus, the
expensive and extensive programming devices used in conventional
initiating systems are no longer required for wireless EED initiating
systems. In the developed system, the average communication distances of
the remote initiating units were 251, 154, and 104 m in outdoor, urban,
and indoor environments, respectively. Unlike conventional commercial
wireless initiating systems that use star network topology, a system
that prefers the mesh network topology can successfully initiate
detonators from 1882 meters outdoors, 1170 meters in urban areas, and
811 meters indoors. Technical capabilities of an EED have been added to
an electric detonator by means of using the developed mobile initiation
device, and the initiation delay could be configured over mobile
network.