Design & Implementation of a Microcontroller-Based Mobile Detonator Initiation System

Electro explosive devices (EEDs) are used in both military and civilian applications to initiate explosives. Currently, the wireless solutions used for initiating EEDs commonly use star network topology. As the control distance in the star topology increases, so does the power requirement and hence the weight of the batteries. In Additionally, safety issues may arise when initiating EEDs over short distances when low-power transceivers are used. In this study, a microcontroller-based mobile system that uses mesh network topology to initiate EEDs was proposed. Within the scope of this study, a system consists of an initiation control unit, remote ignition units, a mobile device layer, and a charge unit have been developed. EED initiation delays in the proposed system can be programmed using a mobile device. Thus, the expensive and extensive programming devices used in conventional initiating systems are no longer required for wireless EED initiating systems. In the developed system, the average communication distances of the remote initiating units were 251, 154, and 104 m in outdoor, urban, and indoor environments, respectively. Unlike conventional commercial wireless initiating systems that use star network topology, a system that prefers the mesh network topology can successfully initiate detonators from 1882 meters outdoors, 1170 meters in urban areas, and 811 meters indoors. Technical capabilities of an EED have been added to an electric detonator by means of using the developed mobile initiation device, and the initiation delay could be configured over mobile network.