While rescuers try frantically to reach six men trapped nearly 1,900 feet underground in a collapsed mine in Utah, a new invention is being tested that could help to quickly rescue miners in future disasters.

The InSeT system claims to be able to track miners within three meters of where they are inside a mine using inertial navigation, said its inventor Russell Breeding.

"It's very similar to what's used in missile guidance systems," the Virginia Beach, Va., man told the Deseret Morning News on Friday.

InSeT, which stands for "Inertial Sensor Tracking" is also similar to what submarines use to navigate underwater. Breeding, who is a former Navy sailor, said the system uses micro-electrical mechanical sensors that track the miners in a portable unit that provides real-time underground mapping.

The unit itself is about the size of a large cell phone, powered by a battery with a 24-hour life. The sensors transmit the information outside the mine through a software program Breeding is developing.

"This device allows someone outside the mine to see them moving underground after the disaster," he said.

Breeding said the idea came to him after West Virginia's Sago Mine disaster in 2006. Many questions were raised about why rescuers could not reach the trapped miners quickly.

"GPS doesn't get through the dirt," Breeding said.

The InSeT system is being looked at by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.

"It's a very exciting technology," said Dave Chirdon, MSHA's supervisor of electrical safety. "But in our opinion, it's immature at this point. It's a fair distance away from being marketed to the mines."

Presently, many mines use radio frequency identification tracking systems, similar to a barcode scanner, that reads and records the location of miners. Two weeks ago, the InSeT system was tested at the Century Mine in Ohio. That mine is also owned by Bob Murray, who owns the Crandall Canyon Mine in Huntington Canyon.

Breeding said the test went well.

"The Century Mine, they were impressed with the demonstration they saw underground," he said. "The timing right now is very unfortunate."

InSeT Systems hopes to have the software and everything perfected enough to get MSHA approval by the end of 2008.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com