Patent ID: 9726016
Date: 2017-08-08
CPC Classifications: E21F,G08G,H01F

Claim:
1. A vehicle proximity awareness system in a mine, including: a magnetic field transmitter on a first vehicle for transmitting a transmit magnetic field, the magnetic field transmitter including an anti-collision capability for reducing a likelihood of the transmit magnetic field being affected by a presence of a magnetic field from a different source; a magnetic field receiver on a second vehicle for receiving the transmit magnetic field from the first vehicle to provide a receive signal; a processor on the second vehicle for processing the receive signal, and for providing an indication to an operator of the second vehicle when the first vehicle is within a proximity of the second vehicle; a wireless network in the mine for tracking the location of the first vehicle, the second vehicle, or both; and a wireless communication module for providing control signals to the magnetic field transmitter and for communicating wirelessly with the different source without affecting or being affected by the transmit magnetic field; wherein the transmit magnetic field is transmitted in accordance with the anti-collision capability, and not in response to a detection of the presence of the magnetic field from the different source; and wherein the anti-collision capability is based on a communication, between the wireless communication module and the different source, to avoid having the magnetic field transmitter and the different source transmitting at a same time.