1、英文原文NAVIGATION AND CONTROL OF CONTINUOUS MINING SYSTEMS FOR COAL MININGWILLIAM H. SCHIFFBAUERU.S. Department of EnergyPittsburgh Research CenterP.O. Box 18070Pittsburgh, PA 15236 USAAbstract-One of the U.S. Department of Energy, Pittsburgh Research Center (PRC) mine safety and health research progra
2、ms is developing technology that will allow remote-controlled operation of mechanized equipment normally used in underground room-and-pillar coal mining, thereby permitting workers to be located away from the hazardous coal extraction area (the face). As part of this program, advanced machine naviga
3、tion and control technologies are being developed for underground room-and-pillar and highwall coal mining that can be applied to commercially available mining equipment. These technologies use off-the-shelf components and a flexible control software architecture to minimize the effort required to a
4、dapt them to mining equipment. An accurate reliable navigation system that can provide the mining Machines heading and location at all times is a critical requirement for a remote-controlled mining system. After much research involving several different types of navigation sensors, the Honeywell Rin
5、g Laser Gyro Inertial Navigation System was selected as showing the most promise. It has been installed on a continuous mining machine at PRCs surface test facility. This paper describes the system being employed on a mining machine while final accuracy and performance testing continues.1. INTRODUCT
6、IONThe primary focus of PRC is to make mining safer and more healthful for miners. The PRC research program on remote-controlled coal mining involves the development of technology that will allow remote-controlled operation of all mechanized equipment normally used, while permitting workers to be lo
7、cated away from the hazardous coal extraction area (face). Advanced navigation and control technologies are being developed for room-and-pillar and highwall coal mining that can be applied to commercially available mining equipment. The equipment being employed is off-the-shelf, minimizing the effor
8、t required to adapt the new technology to mining situations. Since the technology is modular, only those modules required for a particular application need be applied. While there are differences between underground and highwall mining systems, basic efforts to enhance safety are much the same for b
9、oth: Move the machine operators a safe distance away from areas where they are exposed to hazards, such as roof and highwall falls, dust inhalation, and noise, and provide the operators with enough information and technology to effectively operate the machines remotely. PRC believes they have locate
10、d the appropriate technology. In highwall mining systems, operators are already provided with a protected control center. In room-and-pillar situations, PRC suggests constructing a special control center, provided in the vicinity of the section power center, which in most cases will be less than 150
11、 m from the face area. From this center all activities can be controlled and directed by the machine operators.Although other machines are used in the mining process, only the continuous miner (CM) will be discussed here. However, PRC has also done work with roof bolters, shuttle cars, and continuou
12、s haulage systems. The CM used by PRC for testing is a 50-ton tracked vehicle which consists of a large cob-type coal cutting head and a center-mounted conveyor system. The conveyor system transports the harvested coal from under the cob cutter to the tail of the machine.2. NAVIGATIONThe most import
13、ant requirement for a remote-controlled mining system is an accurate, reliable navigation system to provide the heading and location of the CM at all times. The navigation system provides information to the machine controller so that the cutting by the CM can be controlled to a predetermined mine pl
14、an. For room-and-pillar mining, entries and crosscuts can be cut to required dimensions and location. In highwall mining, a constant rib (web) can be maintained between adjacent holes.Several different navigation devices have been evaluated in an effort to identify the best one for use on CMs. After
15、 investigating the alternatives, PRC decided on the Honeywell Ring Laser Gyro (RLG) Inertial Navigation System (INS).3 This system, previously known as the Modular Azimuth and Position System (MAPS) but now known as the Honeywell Ore Recovery and Tunneling Aid (HORTA) (fig. 1), is the best navigatio
16、n device for this application known at this time. With Honeywell under contract, PRC did many hours of underground testing of the MAPS on a CM while it was cutting coal Accuracy improvements were made, and at the termination of the underground tests a complete reevaluation of the INS and its implementation into the mining machine control process was done. A list of desired improvements was prepared including increased accuracy, sharing navigation data between mul
