Toward predictive maintenance of walls in hard rock underground facilities: IoT-enabled rock bolts

Abstract

The paper addresses the first one-and-a-half cycles, out of four planned, in an action research effort concerned with predictive maintenance of walls and ceilings in tunnels of hard rock underground facilities by using Internet-of-Things-enabled Rock Bolts (IoTeRB). The IoTeRB concept is developed together with a consortium of companies ranging from rock bolt manufacturers, sensor specialists, researchers, and cloud-service providers to data analysts. Thus, the action research effort is a multi-disciplinary endeavor. The result of the paper is an action plan for the second cycle concerning technology and business development which, according to the design criterion, will move the IoTeRB toward commercialization.