Collecting strike and dip measurements with a Brunton compass is tedious and time consuming. And, in some cases, can be dangerous if you have to get close to unsupported and/or newly excavated rock. There are other, less developed, ways of doing this by using camera (photogrammetry) or stationary LiDAR measurements, but there can big problems with these methods, including price, accuracy, and the need for significant human input (and error). Hence, these approaches are not widely used.
For several years now, MSL researchers Marc Gallant and Joshua Marshall have been developing a better way; one that is automatic, mobile, accurate (better than a human?!), safe, and extremely fast.
Introducing the Mining Systems Laboratory’s automated geotechnical mapping system. It provides a quick and easy way for geotechnical engineers or geologists to automatically generate rich and complete stereonets that map the joint sets of exposed rock cuts, whether these are on surface, underground, or in hard-to-reach places.
This spring, with the support of PARTEQ Innovations, Marc and Josh decided to give some entrepreneurial Queen’s students (via the QICSI program) the chance to exploit their newly developed intellectual property. Six students took up the challenge and we are happy to report that, after forming the spin-off company RockMass Technologies, they recently won the QICSI pitch competition! Congrats to RockMass Technologies! We look forward to working with you on the future of robotic and automated geotechnical mapping …
