From Deseret News archives:
Robot raises hopes
It's a 'long shot,' but device is being lowered through borehole
A seventh hole will also begin to be drilled today, hopefully reaching a kitchen area inside the mine, according to Mine Safety and Health Administration officials, who have been coordinating rescue efforts at the mine with mine owner UtahAmerican Energy Inc.
"It's a long shot, and I repeat, it's a long shot, but we have to do everything possible to locate their loved ones," said Jack Kuzar, MSHA district manager.
Since the night of the initial mine collapse on Aug. 6, MSHA has been working with the Center for Robot Assisted Search and Rescue, based out of the College of Engineering at the University of South Florida, to develop and secure plans for a robotic descent.
The camera, which is attached to the tractor-like robot, will be dropped through either the third or fourth hole already drilled from the top of the mountain.
The fourth hole was drilled in its location after MSHA officials received information that vibrations were detected under the earth's surface. It also appeared to have the least amount of rubble in the mine shaft and the most space for the robot to scour, said Salt Lake City attorney Colin King, who is part of a group of lawyers representing the families of the trapped miners.
Six previous holes have been bored through the mountain to the mine — some of them nearing depths of 2,000 feet, and others punching through to piles of rock and debris — only to reveal no trace of the missing miners.
A tethered robotic device similar to the one being used at Crandall Canyon Mine was sent into the the World Trade Center after the towers fell on Sept. 11, 2001. Its size and capabilities make it unique; however, it is not infallible.
"I give us less than a 50 percent chance of being able to come up with any additional information," said CRASAR director Robin Murphy. "It's certainly a chance we're willing to take."
Murphy said the device could break on the way in, get stuck in mud, not to be able to recover from a rollover, or even not work once it hits the base of the fourth hole. Another concern is that once it's in the mine cavity, the robot may not be retrievable.
Images and sound bytes from the attached camera are captured real-time, so, Murphy said, any and all information picked up in the mine will be collected. A new robot can be constructed in a week's time and would cost $100,000 to build. Inuktun Services Limited, a privately owned Canadian design firm, is lending the equipment to MSHA and only if the robot is destroyed will it ask for a repayment.
