dr david c. reid dr mark dunn rdtg operator’s workshops sept 2010 acarp project c18023 cm2010 –...

Dr David C. Reid

Dr Mark Dunn

RDTG Operator’s Workshops Sept 2010

ACARP project C18023CM2010 – Continuous Miner Automation

Project Overview

• Project context• CM Automation component of the CM2010 initiative

• Project grand goal• A remotely supervised continuous miner for roadway development

• Project impact • Essential and major component of CM2010 goals • Immediate health and safety benefits• Immediate productivity benefits

• We are now halfway through 3 year project

Enabling Technology

• Need to develop navigation system suitable for accurate control of CM

• Can’t use GPS underground (without a lot of additional infrastructure)

• Technology needs to be physically robust, reliable, accurate and ideally self-contained (doesn’t rely on external infrastructure)

• Technology needs to work under all normal CM operating conditions

• Inertial navigation meets most of the above criteria• Already proven in longwall mining automation (but higher

performance required for CM automation)• Reasonably self contained (but needs odometry/velocity aiding)• Has the additional benefit of providing real-time accurate CM

pitch/roll/heading information at the CM• Need to develop a non-contact odometry solution for this system to

be practical

CM Navigation Solution: INS + Odometry

• Presently evaluating INS and Odometry Solutions

INS

Odometry

IMU

Gyros

Accels

NavigationEquations

Position

(AT, CT, VT)

Orientation

(Heading pitch Roll)

EnvironmentProcess

Aiding Source

Non-Contact Odometry

• Inertial navigation system requires an external aiding source to achieve required position accuracy

• An accurate non-contact odometer is key to practical CM navigation system:

• Needs to be non-contact to be practical • Needs to be rugged-isable• Needs to be immune/tolerant to dust, moisture, vibration• Needs to be very accurate – navigation algorithms are very

sensitive to latency (<40mS), accuracy, timing and measurement jitter

• Multi-sensor solution provides redundancy benefits

Non-contact Odometry Technologies

Visual

Laser

Radar

Other Radio (RF) localisation, ultrasonic, magnetic, …

Mono Stereo Multi

Point Multibeam 3D Scanning

UWB Doppler e-Steering

Results so far

• A CM navigation system has been developed • Non-contact odometry solutions have been developed for

velocity aiding using hybrid technologies• Ultra low speed Doppler radar• Optical flow position sensor (like an optical mouse)

• A skid steer vehicle The Phoenix has been customised for evaluating the navigation system performance

Mobile CM Test Platform: The Phoenix

Non-contact optical flow odometry and very low speed Doppler radar

Test Platform Development: Phoenix

• Phoenix provided a realistic CM-like platform for VMS-aided navigation testing

• Installation of RTK GPS equipment on Phoenix for ground-truth reference

• Installation of RTK surveyed base station at QCAT and radio link to Phoenix

• Doppler radar and optical position sensor installed• Sagem Sigma30 INS installed• Custom-developed control and communication systems installed • Navigation experiments conducted on both paved and unpaved

(rough) tracks

Results: CM Attitude Monitoring

Accurate heading/pitch/roll information available on CM

Phoenix Navigation Testing Area

• Test tracks – monorail/paved road and rough unpaved track

Phoenix Navigation Testing

• [external video]

Next Stages

• Further enhancement to the navigation solutions• Additional evaluation with lower performance inertial system• Further control system development• Development of Mine-To-Plan software tool• Field trials

• Quarry• Underground

Summary

• A practical CM navigation systems has been developed and demonstrated under limited operating conditions

• New non-contact odometry technologies have been demonstrated

• Further development and testing required under more realistic operating conditions

Contact UsPhone: 1300 363 400 or +61 3 9545 2176

Email: enquiries@csiro.au Web: www.csiro.au

Thank you

Exploration and MiningDr David C. ReidPrincipal Research Engineer

Dr Mark T DunnResearch Engineer

Phone: 07 3327 4437Email: david.reid@csiro.au