1、英文原文Telecontrol of a continuous mining machine in thin coal seamsAugust J. Kwitowski, Albert L. Brautigam, and William D. MonaghanU.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Mines Pittsburgh Research Center Pittsburgh, PA 15236Abstract-Telecontrol is a technology providing significant safety improveme
2、nts in mining, by relocating machine operators hundreds of meters away from the immediate health and safety hazards. The U. S. Bureau of Mines recently developed and patented a telecontrol system for underground room-and-pillar mining. This system features near-real-time closed-loop control. A demon
3、stration system was constructed that can be wed in thin-seam applications down to 914 mm. Details are provided on he developed telecontrol system, with the emphasis placed on the programmable logic controller-based electronic control system.1 IntroductionIn remote control continuous mining, the oper
4、ator does not normally sit on the machine. This operator is typically located 3.05 - 15.24 m from the working face and communicates with the machine using a hard-wired pendant control or a radio transmitter with complement machine-based receiver. The operator receives direct operational cues via hum
5、an senses like vision, hearing, and feel.Telecontrol (teleoperation), as used here, is the computer-based, distant control of mine machinery from a protected operator compartment located out of the line of site. The teleoperator responds to sensory information from a remote mining machine and makes
6、corrections by moving control devices (usually switches). This initiates electronic control commands that, when received and interpreted, cause the appropriate remote machine function(s) to occur. Without question, telecontrol increases the safety of mining machine operators. This technology removes
7、 the operators from the hazardous immediate face area to a much safer location. In underground mining, the working face area contains many hazards. Unexpected roof falls can maim or kill miners instantly. Methane and coal dust explosions can be touched off with just a small spark or flame. Long-term
8、 health effects can result from miners breathing coal and silica dust and hearing loss can be caused by long-term exposure to noise pollution. Additional hazards are related to heavy mining equipment moving about in confined underground roadways that accommodate other workers. A goal of this work wa
9、s to remove the operators of thin-seam continuous mining machines from these hazards.2 Previous workThe Bureau of Mines has been active in telecontrol research since 1979. A major milestone was achieved in 1989 when, following development and surface testing, a teleoperated highwall mining system (T
10、HMS) was evaluated at a cooperators field site 1. THMS subsystems included: (1) a Jeffrey Model 102HP thin-seam continuous miner, (2) a continuous haulage coal conveying system, (3) the teleoperators station, (4) the computer-based control system, and (5) support equipment located on the bench 2,3.
11、The THMS could penetrate the highwall to a depth of 84 IIL. This was limited by the length of the continuous haulage system. A simple, line-of-sight laser alignment system was used to guide the THMS on a straight course. The THMS employed a unique, ergonomically designed, operator control station, s
12、hown in Figure 1, and required only three workers. To insure safety, none of the operating personnel were located in the mine entries. The THMS was developed as a combined effort of the Bureau and a cooperator, S.H.S., Inc. of Morgantown, WV. Fig. 1. Operator workstation The THMS was used as the bas
13、is for the design of a teleoperated, thin-seam, deep-mining system (TTDS). The TTDS used many of the same design features and hardware as the THMS. The most significant changes to the telecontrol system involved the teleoperators station and the electronic control system. A design goal was to fit th
14、e teleoperators station in an underground location where the vertical height was limited to 744 mm. The significant reduction in available vertical height between the THMS and the TTDS required substantial changes be made in the layout of the station and in the selection of display devices. The THMS
15、 used a distributed microcontroller system network based on the Intel BITBUS series. This system suffered from significant time delays between both (1) the activation of a control and the actuation of a machine function and (2) the detection of the change in a sensor data and the corresponding displ
16、ay of that change to the operator. This system was also difficult to program. These faults were corrected by the selection of a programmable logic controller-based electronic control system for the TTDS .3 Teleoperated thin-seam deep mining system Figure 2 shows a conceptual drawing of the complete TTDS. The TTDS fits the description for a mining system that was granted U.S. Patent No. 5,161,
