Sudbury invention aims to bring the 'cool' to underground mining

Jannatec, the designers behind "the cooling vest," hope their product becomes the coolest thing on the mining market.

The vest, built to be worn by underground miners, is designed to regulate the wearer's temperatures, and to monitor any spikes in body heat.

The big difference between the cooling vest and other current technologies is that instead of trying to control the environment, the wearable technology focuses on the person, Jannatec scientist Steffon Luoma said.

"[The cooling vest] is able to provide cooling in a less than absolute way," Luoma said. "[It] can provide more cooling in regions that need it, less in an area that may not be as effective."

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'A life-jacket' worn under coveralls

The battery-operated vest is embedded in coveralls made of textiles you might find in athletic wear —  materials that are built to wick perspiration away and adjust to movement, Luoma said.

"The vest itself will look basically like a life-jacket vest that you wear under the coveralls, but not as bulky," he said. "The coveralls are more modern, have more mining specific features on them."

This vest integrates with Jannatec's other wearable electronic systems, including a smart helmet. The overall package provides more safety for workers, Luoma said.

"From a safety point of view, people don't know when they are going to get heat stress," Luoma said. "It creeps on you and you're affected by the symptoms, and by then it's too late."

"From a production point of view it will allow mines to instead of cooling a large area to cool a person. It will help with costs."

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Once the vest launches — Luoma said he's expecting a spring 2018 entry into the market —  the company plans on looking at introducing the product in other industries.

"We're definitely looking at all types of lateral markets," Luoma said. "[Like] applications in industrial, military, even people wearing radiation suits [like] during the Ebola crisis."

"The idea is if you design it to work in the mines, you can adapt it to other industries."

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