Designed and developed the electronic and software aspects of an innovative dispenser unit that is attached to a conveyor belt in the Lucara Diamond mine in Botswana.
The dispenser unit releases RFID tracers. These tracers are built according to the same density and size of the mineral of choice.
A unique network was created so that the various elements and embedded systems of the design can communicate with each other as well as the server database that was created to record and analyse the data collected, so that meaningful results can be interpreted.
The system was then automated by including a robot control mechanicsm to control the dispenser unit with limited to no human interation. The user can set the parameters of what they want the robot to do and then for days, weeks, months and indefinitely, the dispenser will continue to run as controlled by the robot.
The purpose of this application is to optimise the discovery, tracking and identification of mineral resources in the mining sector, but it has the potential to be used in a multitude of other fields.