Wireless underground monitoring
Ground insight.
Deep underground.
Bring convergence, groundwater and ground-support measurements into view. Connect your instruments through Ackcio’s Self-Healing Mesh and build a record for your ground control team.
Concept illustration.
Between inspections
More visibility between
underground visits.
Scheduled instrument readings help engineers review changes alongside inspections, excavation progress and site events.
Read instruments remotely
Access constraints and changing mine geometry can make manual rounds difficult. Wireless acquisition reduces the need to visit each instrument just to obtain a reading.
Keep a measurement history
Set reading intervals around the monitoring objective. Review displacement trends with the engineering team and the site’s agreed response plan.
The Ackcio approach
Sensors. Data acquisition.
Visualisation.
Start with the engineering question, then select the instrument, connection and review workflow.
Choose the sensor
Specify the parameter, range, accuracy and installation for the underground location.
Explore sensors ↗Acquire readings wirelessly
Match each instrument’s output to a supported node and design the Mesh network around the workings.
Explore nodes ↗Bring data into view
Manage readings through Snape and confirm the integration with your monitoring platform.
Explore Snape ↗Six monitoring areas
From the portal
to the surrounding rock.
Explore each area below. Instrument selection and reading intervals follow the site’s monitoring plan.
Monitoring area 01
Blasting and weather
Put local ground response in the context of mine activity and conditions at the portal.
- Blast vibration
- Specify appropriate dynamic instruments and acquisition for the required event duration, frequency range and sampling rate.
- Rain and weather
- Rain gauges and weather stations provide context for conditions around the portal and decline.
- Portal tilt
- Tiltmeters measure angular change at selected surface or structural locations.
Monitoring area 02
Drive convergence
Follow changes in the drive geometry and relative displacement around roofs, walls and pillars.
- Tunnel convergence
- An appropriately configured displacement array or convergence instrument tracks changes around the tunnel profile.
- Roof and wall displacement
- Extensometers measure relative displacement between defined anchor points along the installation axis.
- Floor settlement and heave
- Select suitable vertical displacement instruments and reference points. Tilt measurements describe angle, not settlement directly.
Monitoring area 03
Groundwater and inflow
Track water pressure and inflow alongside excavation and ground conditions.
- Pore water pressure
- Piezometers measure pressure in the surrounding ground at selected depths.
- Sump water level
- Suitable level sensors track changing water levels in collection areas.
- Inflow and seepage
- Flow instruments measure water at defined collection points; interpret readings with local drainage conditions.
Monitoring area 04
Ground support
Review the response of rock bolts, linings and steel supports at instrumented locations.
- Bolt and anchor load
- Suitable load cells measure load in the specified installation and load path.
- Lining and steel strain
- Strain gauges record local strain in shotcrete or steel. Stress interpretation requires material and engineering assumptions.
- Cracks and joints
- Crackmeters track opening and closing; pressure cells may measure contact pressure where specified.
Monitoring area 05
Displacement at depth
Measure relative displacement through the rock around a drive and across suspected weak zones.
- Displacement across a borehole
- In-place inclinometers and suitable arrays measure displacement according to their installation orientation and reference.
- Displacement along a borehole
- Single- and multi-point borehole extensometers measure relative displacement along the borehole axis.
- Faults and weak zones
- Instrument locations are selected from the ground model. Readings help investigate displacement at those locations.
Monitoring area 06
Data and network health
Review measurement changes together with the condition of instruments and the communication network.
- Device status
- Review available battery and communication indicators for the installed hardware.
- Gaps and unusual readings
- Investigate missing readings and spikes alongside blasting, environmental conditions and instrument checks.
- Self-Healing Mesh
- The network automatically selects communication paths, using alternative routes where available.
From measurement to review
Specify the pathway.
Not just the sensor.
The instrument output, reading interval, site layout and data destination determine the system configuration.
01 / INSTRUMENT + NODEMatch the interface
Connect supported instrument outputs to the appropriate acquisition node. Check the exact sensor model, excitation, output and power needs.
Analogue NodesVibrating Wire NodesDigital Node
02 / GATEWAYCollect the readings
The gateway receives data from the Beam network. Plan its location, power and backhaul around the mine and the required workflow.
Explore the Gateway
03 / SOFTWAREReview and integrate
Manage the network and sensor data through Snape. Confirm integration requirements for the project’s monitoring platform.
Explore SnapeThe wireless differentiator
Self-Healing Mesh
Mine geometry and site conditions can affect radio links. Ackcio Beam automatically selects communication paths, using alternative routes where available.
This is radio-path resilience. It does not remove the need to maintain instruments, sensor cables or power supplies.
How Ackcio Mesh worksPublished deployment evidence
Underground sites.
Real instrument networks.
Two published projects show how acquisition and network design respond to underground access and geometry.
Northparkes · Australia
Rock displacement, 527 m below ground
Digital nodes connected existing MDT multi-point borehole extensometers through Smartlink adapters. Repeater nodes provided paths around drive corners.
The published trial replaced weekly manual collection with remote instrument readings.
Read the published case study ↗
Conveyor tunnel · Peru
Readings along a 2 km tunnel
Seven VW-S8 nodes acquired multipoint rod extensometer readings. Three repeaters relayed data to a surface gateway connected to the mine’s network.
The project required readings every six hours amid radio noise and physical obstructions.
Read the published case study ↗
“It is very pleasant to work with Ackcio instruments.”Robert Olivera, Project Engineer, Geoteknik SAC · Peru
Plan a deployment
Start with one drive.
Design around your mine.
Define the measurements and response workflow before extending the network.
Define the question
Identify the ground-control concern, instrument locations, reference conditions and required reading intervals.
Plan the installation
Confirm interfaces, access, power, gateway backhaul and communication paths around corners and obstructions.
Review, then extend
Validate readings and the response workflow with the engineering team. Use actual labour and maintenance costs to assess expansion.
Common questions
Before you specify a system
Can we connect instruments we already use?
Potentially. Match each sensor’s output, excitation, electrical and sampling requirements to the supported acquisition interface. The instrument name alone does not establish compatibility.
Does wireless monitoring remove every cable?
No. Some instruments connect to a local node by cable. In a Beam deployment, Mesh carries data wirelessly between nodes and the gateway. Local sensor connections still require protection and maintenance.
Does every measurement use the same sampling interval?
No. The monitoring objective and instrument determine the interval and acquisition requirements. Dynamic vibration measurements require separate technical validation.
Can monitoring replace mine inspections?
Instrument readings complement inspections and engineering assessment. The mine operator and engineering team define how readings inform the asset’s response plan.
Your underground monitoring project
Bring your measurements
into view.
Share your mine layout, monitoring objectives and existing instruments. We’ll help scope the acquisition pathway.