INRTU Launches LIS-Virgil Robot for Deep Shaft Inspection Beyond 100 Meters

Semyon Gridnev, chief designer of INRTU Center for Surveying and Geodesic Innovations, has developed a self-propelled shell for inspection of vertical and inclined shafts deeper than 100 meters. The LIS- Virgil innovation has successfully passed the examination of Rospatent and has attracted the attention of subsoil users of Krasnoyarsk region and Transbaikalia. The technical development was carried out under the Priority 2030 program.

As Semyon Gridnev pointed out, blast shafts run from the bottom to the top, so the method of measuring by lowering a weight on a cable is not available. At present, the study of vertical and steeply inclined shafts, which are drilled in a fan to the roof of the mine, is carried out with the help of ultrasonic meters. The device gives readings with a large error due to different air densities along the length of the shaft, cracks and obstacles.

INRTU's LIS-Virgil device can be considered a unique offering on the market, with no analogues. The robot resembles a "mechanical worm". It is based on an innovative principle of locomotion, which consists in the alternate spreading of the rear and front stops, working like a car jack. The body moves along the screw rod by means of an electric motor.

"The Virgil weighs about one kilogram and is capable of moving downhole at a speed of 0.3-0.4 meters per second, moving the measurement equipment from bottom to top. The device is equipped with an illuminated digital camera, as well as inclinometers and other sensors. This allows to determine not only the depth, but also the three-dimensional trajectory of the shaft.

Such information is necessary for correct explosive calculation and, as a result, for obtaining clearer mining contours in order to reduce ore loss and dilution,” Semyon Gridnev told about the advantages and purpose of the LIS-Virgil device."

The station can be used by geologists to identify tectonic disturbances, study ore bodies and rocks, direction of veins, etc.

Norilsk Nickel and Novo-Shirokinskiy Mine (Highland Gold) enterprises are interested in the scientific and technical solution of INRTU surveyors and are ready to provide a test site.

Photos provided by the Siberian Meridian VK community and Semyon Gridnev