WO2021033070A1

WO2021033070A1 - Secure communication between devices in a blasting system

Info

Publication number: WO2021033070A1
Application number: PCT/IB2020/057487
Authority: WO
Inventors: Andries Willem Posthumus; Anthony John Rorke
Original assignee: Omnia Group (Proprietary) Limited
Priority date: 2019-08-16
Filing date: 2020-08-07
Publication date: 2021-02-25
Also published as: ZA202202747B; AU2020334311A1; CA3151187A1

Abstract

A method of securely communicating between devices in a blasting system, as well as a corresponding blasting system, are disclosed. The method comprises transferring a unique pairing address from a first device to a second device in the blasting system using Near-Field-Communication (NFC). The first device includes an NFC tag. A wireless pairing is established between the first device and the second device based on the pairing address to permit secure communication between the first device and the second device using short-range wireless communication. This prevents unwanted pairing and/or communication with nearby devices.

Description

SECURE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN DEVICES IN A BLASTING SYSTEM

Field of the invention

The invention relates to a blasting system and to a method of securely communicating between devices in a blasting system. The invention also relates to a method of pairing devices in a blasting system so as to facilitate or ensure secure communication between them.

Background to the invention

Blasting systems are employed in the blasting of rock for the extraction of minerals or other valuable components, the quarrying of rock and in civil engineering projects that require rock blasting. Blasting is generally done by drilling a pattern of boreholes, priming each borehole with a detonator and a booster and filling the hole, in accordance with the design, with commercial explosives. Types of detonators used include those attached to a pyrotechnic fuse (fuse head), electric detonators, shock-tube initiated detonators and, in the last 20 years or so, electronic detonators.

Wired electronic blasting depends on electrical leads from a blaster unit (usually near the blast) to every hole that has been supplied with an electronic detonator. The surface wiring system may comprise a lead-in line which connects to lines running along each row of holes. Connectors, usually insulation displacement connectors (IDCs), are used to connect the lead-in line or trunk line electrically to the row lines. Similar connectors may be used to connect the detonator leg wires to the row lines. Each detonator typically comprises a metal tube containing a sealing plug, a crimp, an electronic module, a fuse head connected to the electronic module and an explosive charge.

During preparations for a blast, one or more detonators is/are placed in each hole. The detonators are then logged, during which the operator applies a handheld/portable logging device, commonly referred to as a “logger”, to the detonator to generate an association between the detonator’s unique electronic identity and the borehole into which it is deployed. Logging commonly also includes programming the detonator by writing a firing time for the hole in question into the detonator’s memory, testing the detonator for its readiness to fire, and recording all relevant details of the detonator in the memory of the logger.

The data relating to detonators, as recorded in the loggers, must be communicated to a blast control device (blaster unit or control unit) and/or other components in the blasting system. In practical blasting, a communication range of the order of 30 metres between associated equipment is generally sufficient.

A number of techniques are used for communication between components or devices in a conventional blasting system. Components or devices may communicate using interconnecting cables or using short-wavelength radio communication, such as the Bluetooth technology standard (hereafter simply “Bluetooth”) or suitable radio-frequency identification (RFID) devices.

These known techniques require additional equipment such as cables, dongles, RFID cards and flash drives, or technologies for short-wave radio like Bluetooth. The repeated use of interconnected or interconnecting cables can lead to cable damage, plug deterioration and unreliability. Cables also have to be included in the system hardware to be stored and transported and can be misplaced or lost. Thus, wireless communication may be preferred in at least some applications.

Bluetooth offers the advantage of rapid and often reliable communication between uniquely paired pieces of equipment. Flowever, the use of Bluetooth may be disadvantageous in that pairing of devices can be relatively slow and inconsistent. Without intervention, a Bluetooth device may automatically locate all other Bluetooth devices in its neighbourhood and could inadvertently establish an unwanted pairing. In addition, to be identified automatically, Bluetooth devices need to broadcast, which consumes unnecessary power.

A disadvantage of RFID communication is that the two communicating components must remain within the relevant read range of each other. This is limited by factors such as RFID antenna size and, in at least some applications, this range is less than one metre. A need has been identified for a blasting system, communication technique and/or pairing technique for devices in a blasting system which can facilitate or ensure secure communication and/or alleviate the issues identified above, at least to some extent.

Summary of the invention

In accordance with a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of securely communicating between devices in a blasting system, the method comprising: transferring a unique pairing address from a first device to a second device in the blasting system using Near-Field-Communication (NFC), wherein the first device includes an NFC tag; and establishing a wireless pairing between the first device and the second device based on the pairing address to permit secure communication between the devices using short- range wireless communication, thus preventing unwanted pairing and/or communication with nearby devices.

The method may prevent unwanted pairing and/or communication with nearby devices using a similar short-range wireless communication protocol.

In this specification, the term “NFC” refers to wireless communication over a distance of less than about 20 cm, typically less than 10 cm, while the term “short-range wireless communication” refers to wireless communication over a distance of between about 1 m and about 100 m. Typically a “class 1” type of short-range wireless communication device is the most powerful and can operate up to 100 m, whereas a “class 2” type can operate up to 10 m. Accordingly, in this specification, there is a distinction between NFC and short-range communication, with NFC having a shorter range, as indicated above.

Once the devices are paired, the short-range wireless communication channel used may be Bluetooth or any other short-distance protocol.

The first device may be a blasting box and the second device may be a logging device, e.g. a portable logging device or logger. The logging device may include a short-range wireless communication transmitter device/component and establishing the wireless pairing may include creating a secure link by assigning the pairing address contained or stored in the NFC tag to an interface controller of the short-range wireless communication transmitter device of the logger. In some embodiments, the blasting box also includes a suitable wireless communication transmitter device/component to enable communication via the secure link.

The method may further include securely binding or pairing a plurality of devices in a wireless communication network. A number of devices in the blasting system may be securely bound in a wireless communication network by using NFC to create sequential and one-to-one linkages in which one device (the common device) is repeatedly applied in each pairing.

The devices which are bound in a wireless communication network may comprise multiple blasting boxes, and the common device repeatedly applied in each pairing may be the logging device.

The method may further include: transmitting a blasting box identifier (ID) of the first blasting box from the first blasting box to the common device using a short-range wireless communication channel secured by the first pairing address; transferring a second unique pairing address from a second blasting box to the common device using NFC, wherein the second blasting box includes an NFC tag; establishing a wireless pairing between the second blasting box and the common device based on the second pairing address to permit secure communication between the second blasting box and the common device using short-range wireless communication; and transmitting a blasting box ID of the second blasting box from the second blasting box to the common device using a short-range wireless communication channel secured by the second pairing address.

In some embodiments, the first blasting box and the second blasting box are blaster units and the blasting system includes a third blasting box in the form of a control unit which includes an NFC tag. The method may further include: transferring a third unique pairing address from the control unit to the common device using NFC; establishing a wireless pairing between the control unit and the common device based on the third pairing address to permit secure communication between the control unit and the common device using short-range wireless communication; and transmitting the blasting box ID of the first blasting box and the blasting box ID of the second blasting box from the common device to the control unit using a short-range wireless communication channel secured by the second pairing address, thereby enabling the control unit to control the first blasting box and the second blasting box.

In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, there is provide a blasting system comprising: a first device including an NFC tag; a second device which is configured to receive a unique pairing address from the first device when the second device is brought within NFC range of the NFC tag of the first device, thereby establishing a wireless pairing between the first device and the second device based on the pairing address to permit secure communication between the first device and the second device using short-range wireless communication, thus preventing unwanted pairing and/or communication with nearby devices.

In some embodiments, the first device is a blasting box and the second device is a logging device.

The system may include a plurality of blasting boxes, the system being configured to securely bind or pair the blasting boxes of the blasting system in a wireless communication network by using NFC to create sequential and one-to-one linkages in which one device, referred to as the common device, is repeatedly applied in each pairing.

In some embodiments, the first blasting box is configured to transmit a blasting box identifier (ID) to the common device using a short-range wireless communication channel secured by the first pairing address, and the second blasting box is configured to transfer a second unique pairing address to the common device using NFC, wherein the second blasting box includes an NFC tag, thereby establishing a wireless pairing between the second blasting box and the common device based on the second pairing address to permit secure communication between the second blasting box and the common device using short-range wireless communication. The second blasting box may be configured to transmit a blasting box ID of the second blasting box to the common device using a short-range wireless communication channel secured by the second pairing address.

The first blasting box and the second blasting box may both be blaster units, and the blasting system may further include a third blasting box in the form of a control unit which includes an NFC tag.

In some embodiments, the control unit is configured to transfer a third unique pairing address to the common device using NFC, thereby establishing a wireless pairing between the control unit and the common device based on the third pairing address to permit secure communication between the control unit and the common device using short-range wireless communication, and the common device is configured to transmit the blasting box ID of the first blasting box and the blasting box ID of the second blasting box to the control unit using a short-range wireless communication channel secured by the second pairing address, thereby enabling the control unit to control the first blasting box and the second blasting box.

As mentioned above, the common device may be the logging device.

The blasting system may comprise one or more logging devices for identifying and programming detonators and for transferring logged information to one or more blasting boxes via the short distance communication system.

The electronic blasting system may be a system for mining and/or quarrying operations.

Brief description of the drawings

An embodiment of the invention is described below, by way of example only, and with reference to the following drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an blasting system in which embodiments of the invention may be implemented; Figure 2 is a schematic drawing of a logging device, or logger, paired to a blasting box of the blasting system;

Figure 3 is a flow diagram depicting exemplary steps in a method/process of pairing the two devices of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a schematic drawing depicting an example of a bound network (wireless communication network) of devices in the blasting system; and

Figure 5 is a flow diagram depicting exemplary steps in a method/process of pairing or binding the devices of Figure 4 to form the network.

Detailed description with reference to the drawings

The following description is provided as an enabling teaching of the invention, is illustrative of principles associated with the invention and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Changes may be made to the embodiment/s depicted and described, while still attaining results of the present invention and/or without departing from the scope of the invention. Furthermore, it will be understood that some results or advantages of the present invention may be attained by selecting some of the features of the present invention without utilising other features. Accordingly, those skilled in the art will recognise that modifications and adaptations to the present invention may be possible and may even be desirable in certain circumstances and may form part of the present invention.

Referring to Figure 1 , an example embodiment of an blasting system (10) is shown. In this example, the system (10) is an electronic blasting system. However, it should be appreciated that aspects of the invention may be applied in other types of blasting systems without departing from the scope of the invention.

The system (10) comprises multiple detonators (12) connected via connectors (14) to a surface harness wire network (16) and to a blasting machine, also known as a blaster unit (18) or (19). Multiple blaster units (18, 19) are connected wirelessly, via suitably configured modems and antennas (21 ), to a control unit (20) that controls the detonators (12) through their powering, programming, calibration, arming and firing processes. In some cases, blaster units (18, 19) may be connected to each other via a two-wire cable (22) as shown in Figure 1 , e.g. for signal integrity and synchronization between units. The blaster units (18, 19) and the control unit (20) can individually and collectively be referred to as “blasting boxes’’, as will become apparent from the further descriptions below.

In use, at a blast site, a pattern of boreholes is drilled according to a blast design, where the parameters of each hole, including its position and firing time, are pre-assigned. Each borehole is then primed with one or more detonators (12). The detonator (12) may be inserted into a booster (not shown) to create a primer that initiates the explosive charge, alternatively the detonator (12) may directly initiate certain explosives itself. The detonator (12) is then lowered into the borehole and the hole is filled with a predetermined quantity of explosives. The hole is then charged.

Each detonator (12) in the network is connected to the surface harness wire (16) via a two- core cable (24) and a connector (14). The detonators (12) are each programmed by writing a firing time and relative position into the detonator’s non-volatile memory by means of a portable logging device, referred to herein as a portable logger (30) (or simply “logger”). In this example, the logger (30) is a handheld portable unit. The logger (30) includes a touch screen interface that is part of a robust portable microcomputer device and a separate numeric keypad for entering detonator firing time values. However, it will be appreciated that other user interfaces and designs may be employed without departing from the scope of the invention.

During logging of the detonators (12) by the logger (30), a file is created in the logger (30). This file is commonly known as a blast file. This blast file typically contains a list of all detonators (12) on a blast (that have been logged by the particular logger (30)), with information related to each detonator (12). The information typically includes at least the detonator’s unique identification (UID), the detonator’s position ID (PID) and the detonator’s firing time (DELAY).

As alluded to above, the blaster units (18, 19) and control unit (20) are all “blasting boxes”. In this example embodiment, all blasting boxes (18, 19 and 20) are identical in structure, possible functionality, software and electronics. However, individual blasting boxes are configurable based on their required application and must be initialised as either a control unit or a blaster unit or combination thereof during preparation for undertaking a blast. In this example embodiment, when a blasting box is switched on, it defaults to an “unconfigured” state and must be initialised as a blaster unit or control unit. A blaster unit (18, 19) cannot fire a blast, test detonators, re-program detonators, or power up the line unless it is in a bound network of units with an initialised control unit (20). In the embodiment of Figure 1 , a blaster unit (18, 19) requires wireless communication with a control unit (20) to allow firing of detonators (12).

The logger (30) communicates with the blasting boxes (18, 19, 20) primarily via Bluetooth wireless technology. Accordingly, the logger (30) and blasting boxes (18, 19, 20) are provided with short-range wireless communication transmitter devices or transmitter components (30A, 18B, 19B, 20B) as shown in Figures 2 and 4. The logger (30) and blasting boxes (18, 19, 20) may also include suitable short-range wireless communication receiving components (not shown) if not incorporated into the transmitter devices (30A, 18B, 19B, 20B). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that this communication needs to be both reliable and easy to use so as to not cause interruptions or delays, e.g. as a result of having to reconnect devices or find a Universal Serial Bus (USB) cable for a back-up communication method. Other short distance communication protocols, such as RF communication, may also be employed.

A specialised and unique Near-Field-Communication (NFC) method has been developed for pairing devices in a blasting system such as the system (10).

In terms of this technique, each blasting box (18, 19, 20), contains or is fitted with an NFC tag, which contains/stores a unique pairing address. The pairing address may be any suitable unique identifier. However, it must be a unique identifier contained or stored in the NFC tag. An example of such a pairing address is a media access control (MAC) address.

Figure 2 shows, as an example of two paired devices, the blasting box (18) with its NFC tag (18A), as well as the logger (30). The logger (30) and blasting box’s NFC tag (18A) are configured such that, when the logger (30) is brought into range of the tag (18A), the tag (18 A) transfers the unique pairing address stored thereon to the logger (30), pairing the logger (30) to the blasting box (18). The logger (30) includes a suitable reader which is capable of reading/received the pairing address via NFC. The logger (30) and the blasting box (18) may then use short distance wireless communication to communicate with each other, using the unique pairing address to secure the link (28). Some of the steps in this process are highlighted in the flow diagram (40) of Figure 3.

Referring now to Figure 3, firstly, the logger (30) and blasting box (18) are activated / switched on (stages (42) and (44)). Then the logger (30) is brought within range of the tag (18A) (stage 46), causing the unique pairing address associated with the blasting box (18) to be transferred to and stored by the logger (30) at stage (48). This creates a secure link or channel (28) identified by the pairing address of the tag (18A). Creation of the secure link may involve assigning the pairing address in the tag (18A) to an interface controller of the short-range wireless communication transmitter device (30A) of the logger (30).

Once the above steps have been carried out, the blasting box (18) and the logger (30) can communicate securely, e.g. using Bluetooth, with the communication channel being secured using the pairing address. The pairing address transferred over a first communication channel, which is an NFC channel, is thus used to secure a second communication channel (28), which is a short-range communication channel.

Figure 4 illustrates that it is possible to use the method described herein to bind a number of devices together in a wireless communication network. In the example of Figure 4, the three blasting boxes (18, 19, 20) are shown, each with its own NFC tag (18A, 19A, 20A) carrying a unique pairing address.

The blasting boxes (18, 19, 20) can be bound and securely linked together in a wireless communication network by using NFC to create sequential one-to-one linkages via a “common linking device” or “common pairing device” (hereinafter referred to simply as the common device). In this example the logger (30) is the common device repeatedly used at each pairing. Some of the steps in this process are described with reference to the flow diagram (60) of Figure 5 below.

At a first stage (62), the logger (30) and the first blaster unit (18) are paired/linked as described with reference to Figures 2 and 3 above. This creates the link (28A) in Figure 4. Then at stage (64) an identifier or identification information of the blasting box (18) (blasting box ID) is transferred to the logger (30) using short-range wireless communication, e.g. Bluetooth.

Through this pairing, the logger (30) becomes or is established as the common device which can be used for pairing and communicating with the remaining two blasting boxes (19, 20).

At a next stage (66), the logger (30) is then paired with the second blaster unit (19), creating the link (28B), and the ID information from blaster unit (19), or blasting box ID, is transferred to the logger (30) (see stage (68)).

As illustrated by stages (70) and (72) in Figure 5, if required, this pairing process and information transfer is repeated between the logger and all of the blaster units that are to be included in the bound network. In the example of Figure 4, however, there are only two blaster units (18, 19), hence the stages (70) and (72) are shown in broken lines merely for illustrative purposes.

Finally, the logger (30) is paired with a final blasting box at stage (74). This creates link (28C) in Figure 4. In this example, the final blasting box is the control unit (20) of the blasting system (10), and all of the ID information in the logger (30), obtained from all the blaster units (18 & 19) is transferred to the control unit (20) at stage (76).

At stage (78), the control unit (20) uses the ID information transferred to it by the logger (30) to control the bound boxes (18 & 19) via short-range communications along the secure links or channels (26A) and (26B), as shown in Figure 4.

All powering-up of the detonators (12) at firing voltage, calibrating, charging of firing capacitors and issuing of a blast command may be effected through the bound network of blaster units (18, 19) from the control unit (20), with authority from the paired logger (30) which acted as the common device in the pairing process.

The invention therefore provides a blasting system in which a secure one-to-one wireless communication channel is established between a pair of devices using NFC, allowing short- range communications to be secured using a pairing address. Embodiments of the invention also allow multiple devices to be linked together in a secure wireless network for blasting- related communications.

Claims

1. A method of securely communicating between devices in a blasting system, the method comprising: transferring a unique pairing address from a first device to a second device in the blasting system using Near-Field-Communication (NFC), wherein the first device includes an NFC tag; and establishing a wireless pairing between the first device and the second device based on the pairing address to permit secure communication between the first device and the second device using short-range wireless communication, thus preventing unwanted pairing and/or communication with nearby devices.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first device is a blasting box and the second device is a logging device.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the logging device includes a short-range wireless communication transmitter component, and wherein establishing the wireless pairing includes creating a secure link by assigning the pairing address contained or stored in the NFC tag to an interface controller of the short-range wireless communication transmitter component of the logger.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, which further includes securely binding or pairing a plurality of blasting boxes of the blasting system in a wireless communication network by using NFC to create sequential and one-to-one linkages in which one device, referred to as the common device, is repeatedly applied in each pairing.

5. The method according to claim 4, which further includes: transmitting a blasting box identifier (ID) of the first blasting box from the first blasting box to the common device using a short-range wireless communication channel secured by the first pairing address; transferring a second unique pairing address from a second blasting box to the common device using NFC, wherein the second blasting box includes an NFC tag; establishing a wireless pairing between the second blasting box and the common device based on the second pairing address to permit secure communication between the second blasting box and the common device using short-range wireless communication; and transmitting a blasting box ID of the second blasting box from the second blasting box to the common device using a short-range wireless communication channel secured by the second pairing address.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the first blasting box and the second blasting box are both blaster units, and wherein the blasting system further includes a third blasting box in the form of a control unit which includes an NFC tag.

7. The method according to claim 6, which further includes: transferring a third unique pairing address from the control unit to the common device using NFC; establishing a wireless pairing between the control unit and the common device based on the third pairing address to permit secure communication between the control unit and the common device using short-range wireless communication; and transmitting the blasting box ID of the first blasting box and the blasting box ID of the second blasting box from the common device to the control unit using a short-range wireless communication channel secured by the second pairing address, thereby enabling the control unit to control the first blasting box and the second blasting box.

8. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 7, wherein the common device is the logging device.

9. A blasting system comprising: a first device including an NFC tag; a second device which is configured to receive a unique pairing address from the first device when the second device is brought within NFC range of the NFC tag of the first device, thereby establishing a wireless pairing between the first device and the second device based on the pairing address to permit secure communication between the first device and the second device using short-range wireless communication, thus preventing unwanted pairing and/or communication with nearby devices.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the first device is a blasting box and the second device is a logging device.

11 . The system according to claim 10, wherein the logging device includes a short-range wireless communication transmitter component, and wherein the system is configured to establish the wireless pairing by assigning the pairing address contained or stored in the NFC tag to an interface controller of the short-range wireless communication transmitter component of the logger, thereby creating a secure link.

12. The system according to claim 10 or 11 , which includes a plurality of blasting boxes, the system being configured to securely bind or pair the blasting boxes of the blasting system in a wireless communication network by using NFC to create sequential and one-to-one linkages in which one device, referred to as the common device, is repeatedly applied in each pairing.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein: the first blasting box is configured to transmit a blasting box identifier (ID) to the common device using a short-range wireless communication channel secured by the first pairing address; the second blasting box is configured to transfer a second unique pairing address to the common device using NFC, wherein the second blasting box includes an NFC tag, thereby establishing a wireless pairing between the second blasting box and the common device based on the second pairing address to permit secure communication between the second blasting box and the common device using short-range wireless communication; and wherein the second blasting box is configured to transmit a blasting box ID of the second blasting box to the common device using a short-range wireless communication channel secured by the second pairing address.

14. The system according to claim 13, wherein the first blasting box and the second blasting box are both blaster units, and wherein the blasting system further includes a third blasting box in the form of a control unit which includes an NFC tag.

15. The system according to claim 14, wherein: the control unit is configured to transfer a third unique pairing address to the common device using NFC, thereby establishing a wireless pairing between the control unit and the common device based on the third pairing address to permit secure communication between the control unit and the common device using short-range wireless communication; and the common device is configured to transmit the blasting box ID of the first blasting box and the blasting box ID of the second blasting box to the control unit using a short-range wireless communication channel secured by the second pairing address, thereby enabling the control unit to control the first blasting box and the second blasting box.

16. The system according to any one of claims 12 to 15, wherein the common device is the logging device.