Intelligent mine field system for lunar mining

Abstract

The invention relates to an intelligent mine field system suitable for lunar mining. The intelligent mine field system comprises an intelligent exploration subsystem, an intelligent construction subsystem, an intelligent mining subsystem, an intelligent utilization subsystem, an intelligent operation and maintenance subsystem and an intelligent communication and navigation subsystem. Through cooperation of the intelligent equipment layer and the intelligent facility layer, equipment such as an exploration vehicle, a mining vehicle, a construction vehicle and a mine car is dispatched in a unified mode, and facilities such as a solar power station, a mineral separation plant and a resource utilization plant are operated and maintained. The operation process of the system comprises the following steps: firstly exploring the distribution condition of lunar resources, then utilizing lunar soil to form building materials and build infrastructures, then exploiting surface, underground and water ice resources, transporting the resources to a mineral separation plant to form concentrates, and finally converting the lunar resources into raw materials such as metal, oxygen and hydrogen and energy such as solar energy, fuel cells and nuclear energy. The system has the whole-chain unmanned, autonomous and intelligent operation capability of exploration-building-mining-use of lunar resources, and a feasible technical scheme is provided for large-scale development and utilization of the lunar resources.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of space resource development and intelligent construction technology, and in particular relates to an intelligent mining system for lunar mining. Background Technology

[0002] The Moon contains abundant mineral and energy resources, including metals, rare earth elements, water ice, and helium-3. These resources not only provide supplies for human deep space exploration and long-term lunar missions but also open up new extraterrestrial avenues for alleviating Earth's resource crisis. With the intensification of international competition in deep space exploration, lunar mining has gradually become an important direction for space resource development.

[0003] However, lunar mining presents extremely complex environmental conditions, including low gravity, high vacuum, large temperature differences, and intense radiation, posing unprecedented challenges to mining equipment, energy supply, operational coordination, and structural protection. Traditional Earth mining relies on large-scale human and mechanical collaboration, but this operational model cannot be directly transplanted to lunar mining. How to integrate resource exploration, extraction, transportation, processing, and utilization under the extreme conditions of the moon has become the core challenge restricting large-scale lunar mining.

[0004] Therefore, constructing an unmanned, autonomous, and intelligent mining system for lunar mining, forming an industrial chain of "exploration-construction-mining-utilization" of lunar resources, provides a new technological path for lunar mining and intelligent mining construction, and also provides technological support for human beings to carry out long-term deep space activities. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of this invention is to provide an intelligent mining system for lunar mining. This intelligent mining system includes an intelligent exploration subsystem, an intelligent construction subsystem, an intelligent mining subsystem, an intelligent utilization subsystem, an intelligent operation and maintenance subsystem, and an intelligent communication and navigation subsystem. The intelligent mining system comprises an intelligent equipment layer and an intelligent facility layer, which are uniformly scheduled, coordinated, and maintained through the intelligent operation and maintenance subsystem and the intelligent communication and navigation subsystem.

[0006] The intelligent exploration subsystem consists of an exploration robot, a terrain scanner, a mineral composition sensor, and a remote sensing platform. It is used to clarify the basic information of the moon's geology, topography, resource distribution, and lunar soil properties, especially to collect information on the moon's mineral distribution, reserves, depth, and occurrence status.

[0007] The intelligent construction subsystem integrates a lunar soil collection device, a lunar soil building material processing device, and an intelligent construction device into a mobile construction robot. It is used to construct intelligent facilities such as solar power plants, lunar soil construction plants, mineral mining areas, mineral transportation networks, mineral sorting plants, and resource utilization plants.

[0008] The intelligent mining subsystem consists of surface mining vehicles, underground mining vehicles, water-ice thermal mining vehicles, and transport vehicles, enabling multi-mode and multi-path mineral mining and transportation.

[0009] The intelligent utilization subsystem includes a metal smelting device, a gas production device, and an energy conversion device, which converts lunar resources into usable metal and alloy raw materials, thorium / uranium raw materials, oxygen, hydrogen, hydrocarbon fuels, and other products, as well as energy sources such as solar energy, fuel cells, and nuclear energy.

[0010] The intelligent operation and maintenance subsystem is based on artificial intelligence and Internet of Things technologies to realize status monitoring, equipment maintenance, autonomous scheduling and fault early warning.

[0011] The intelligent communication and navigation subsystem consists of earth base stations, orbital relay satellites, and a lunar control center, enabling remote command, dispatch, and data transmission for the lunar intelligent mine through a land-based, air-based, and lunar-based system.

[0012] Another aspect of the present invention:

[0013] A smart mining system operation process for lunar mining includes the following steps:

[0014] Step 1: The lunar mining intelligent mine system uses intelligent exploration vehicles to clarify the basic information of the moon's geology, topography, resource distribution, and lunar soil properties, providing data support for subsequent construction, mining, and utilization processes.

[0015] Step 2: Use intelligent construction vehicles to construct intelligent facilities in sequence, including a solar power station, a lunar soil construction plant, a surface mineral mining plant, an underground mineral mining plant, a water ice mining plant, a mineral transportation network, a mineral transfer station, a mineral sorting plant, and a resource utilization plant.

[0016] Step 3: Develop lunar surface resources, underground resources, and water ice resources on a large scale and through multiple pathways using intelligent surface mining vehicles, intelligent underground mining vehicles, and intelligent water ice thermal mining vehicles; ensure the continuous operation of lunar mineral resources from mining to processing through intelligent scheduling of mining vehicles; and achieve automated crushing, fine grinding, sorting, and enrichment of lunar ores through intelligent mineral processing equipment to obtain concentrates and discharge tailings.

[0017] Step 4 involves the use of intelligent equipment, including metal smelting equipment, water electrolysis equipment for producing hydrogen and oxygen, hydrogen power generation equipment, and nuclear power equipment, to simultaneously implement automated control and real-time monitoring of material flow.

[0018] Step 5: Through the intelligent operation and maintenance subsystem and the intelligent communication and navigation subsystem, real-time command and dispatch, status monitoring and operation and maintenance of intelligent equipment and facilities in the intelligent mine are carried out.

[0019] Step 6 involves launching useful, high-value strategic resources from the lunar surface back to Earth for reuse, or using them as a transit station for deep space exploration to provide raw materials and resources.

[0020] The advantages and beneficial effects of the lunar mining intelligent mine system described in this invention are:

[0021] 1) This invention enables unmanned, autonomous, intelligent, continuous, and large-scale operations throughout the entire process of resource exploration, construction, mining, and utilization in extreme environments such as low gravity, high vacuum, large temperature difference, and strong radiation on the moon.

[0022] 2) This invention integrates multiple subsystems such as intelligent exploration, intelligent construction, intelligent mining, intelligent utilization, intelligent operation and maintenance, and intelligent communication and navigation, which greatly improves the overall collaborative operation level of lunar resource development.

[0023] 3) This invention is adaptable to the mining needs of various types of resources such as lunar metals, rare earths, thorium / uranium, water ice, and building material raw materials, and has the ability to utilize resources through multiple paths and modes, such as metal smelting, gas production, and energy conversion.

[0024] 4) This invention can perform real-time status monitoring, operation and maintenance, fault early warning and autonomous scheduling of intelligent equipment and facilities, thereby improving the reliability, stability and continuous operation capability of intelligent mining systems.

[0025] 5) This invention can produce metals, oxygen, hydrogen, and water on-site, as well as obtain resources and energy such as solar energy, fuel cells, and thorium / uranium nuclear power, providing long-term support for the construction of lunar bases, manned settlement, and deep space exploration. Attached Figure Description

[0026] Figure 1 This is a diagram of the lunar intelligent mining system.

[0027] Figure 2 This is a flowchart of the lunar intelligent mining system operation.

[0028] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a lunar intelligent mining system. Detailed Implementation

[0029] The specific embodiments of the present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0030] like Figure 1 As shown, the intelligent mining system for lunar mining described in this invention consists of an intelligent exploration subsystem, an intelligent construction subsystem, an intelligent mining subsystem, an intelligent utilization subsystem, an intelligent operation and maintenance subsystem, and an intelligent communication and navigation subsystem. Each subsystem achieves data communication and task collaboration through the intelligent platform of the lunar control center.

[0031] The intelligent exploration subsystem consists of multiple exploration robots equipped with spectral and mineral composition sensors. Through autonomous detection, autonomous navigation, and autonomous path planning, it acquires parameters such as mineral distribution, reserves, depth, and occurrence status in the exploration area, forming a three-dimensional distribution model of lunar resources. This provides a basis for decision-making in subsequent lunar mining, construction, and other processes.

[0032] The intelligent construction subsystem consists of multiple mobile construction robots. These robots integrate lunar soil collection, lunar soil building material processing, and intelligent construction. Using lunar soil as raw material, they form lunar soil building materials through various methods such as sintering, reaction curing, and bonding curing. With the help of intelligent construction methods such as printing and assembly, they form the infrastructure of the intelligent mining system, providing a platform and site support for lunar mining.

[0033] The intelligent mining subsystem consists of intelligent equipment for mining, transporting, and beneficiating ore. Intelligent surface mining vehicles primarily excavate and collect loose mineral resources such as ilmenite and building material raw materials from the lunar surface; intelligent underground mining vehicles mainly mine metallic and rare earth minerals from the lunar subsurface; intelligent water-ice thermal extraction vehicles extract water-ice resources from permanently shadowed areas using methods such as concentrated solar heating. Intelligent ore transport vehicles shuttle between the mining plant and the mineral beneficiation plant for ore transportation. Intelligent beneficiation equipment processes ore into concentrates and discharges tailings through crushing, fine grinding, sorting, and enrichment processes.

[0034] The in-situ metal smelting unit of the intelligent utilization subsystem extracts metals and alloys such as iron, titanium, and aluminum, as well as thorium / uranium and rare earth elements from metal concentrates; the gas production unit produces oxygen and hydrogen through water electrolysis and produces hydrocarbon fuels through electrocatalytic carbon dioxide and artificial photosynthesis; the energy conversion unit generates energy through solar thermal photovoltaic power generation, thermoelectric power generation, hydrocarbon / metal fuel cell power generation, and thorium / uranium nuclear fission power generation, thereby meeting the material and energy requirements for the operation of the intelligent mining system.

[0035] The intelligent operation and maintenance subsystem, based on an artificial intelligence and Internet of Things architecture, monitors the operational status of each subsystem in real time and performs autonomous scheduling, equipment maintenance, and fault early warning. The intelligent operation and maintenance subsystem possesses self-learning capabilities and can make autonomous decisions even under communication latency conditions, ensuring the long-term stable operation of the lunar intelligent mining system.

[0036] The intelligent communication and navigation subsystem consists of earth base stations, orbital relay satellites, and a lunar control center. It enables remote command and dispatch and data transmission for the lunar intelligent mining site through land-based, air-based, and lunar-based systems, providing global positioning and navigation services for lunar resource exploration, construction, mining, and utilization.

[0037] Figure 2This invention describes the operational process of an intelligent lunar mining system. An intelligent exploration vehicle identifies the distribution of lunar resources, providing data support for matching the type of mining vehicle and the location of the intelligent mine. Regarding the construction of intelligent mine infrastructure, an intelligent construction vehicle sequentially constructs a solar power station, a lunar soil construction plant, a mineral extraction plant, a mineral transportation network, a mineral sorting plant, and a resource utilization plant using lunar soil forming materials. In terms of resource development and utilization, intelligent surface mining vehicles, underground mining vehicles, and water-ice thermal extraction vehicles extract corresponding resources based on their distribution. Intelligent transport vehicles transport the extracted mineral resources to the mineral sorting plant, where intelligent beneficiation equipment crushes, grinds, sorts, and enriches the mineral resources to form concentrate. The concentrate enters the resource utilization plant, where intelligent utilization equipment smelts it to obtain products such as metals, alloys, thorium / uranium, and rare earth elements. Water ice is electrolyzed to produce oxygen and hydrogen, ultimately forming metallic raw materials and generating electricity.

[0038] Example:

[0039] like Figure 3 As shown, the lunar intelligent mining system first uses an intelligent exploration vehicle 1 to clarify the basic conditions of the moon, such as its geological topography, resource distribution, and lunar soil properties. Then, an intelligent construction vehicle 5 sequentially constructs infrastructure platforms including a solar power station 18, a lunar soil construction plant 24, a surface mineral mining area 3, an underground mineral mining area 8, a water ice mining area 20, a mineral transportation network 6, a mineral transfer station 7, a mineral sorting plant 23, and a resource utilization plant 15. Large-scale development of lunar surface resources, underground resources, and water ice resources is carried out using intelligent surface mining vehicles 2, intelligent underground mining vehicles 10, and intelligent water ice thermal extraction vehicles 21. The intelligent underground mining vehicle 10 is equipped with a multi-degree-of-freedom robotic arm 9, which combines mining and structural support functions, and is simultaneously equipped with a mineral transport and hoisting machine 11 to transport underground mineral resources to the lunar surface sorting plant 23. Intelligent ore transport vehicles 4 ensure continuous operation from mineral resource mining to processing through reasonable scheduling. Intelligent mineral processing equipment 12 achieves automated crushing, fine grinding, sorting, and enrichment of lunar ore, thereby obtaining concentrate and discharging tailings. The intelligent utilization equipment includes metal smelting and extraction equipment 13, water electrolysis equipment 14, hydrogen power generation facilities 17, and nuclear power generation facilities 16, which simultaneously perform real-time monitoring of facility status and automatic control of material flow. The core components of the intelligent operation and maintenance subsystem and the intelligent communication and navigation subsystem are located in the lunar control center 22, enabling real-time command, dispatch, monitoring, and maintenance of all intelligent equipment and facilities in the lunar intelligent mine, and possessing both land-based, air-based, and lunar-based data transmission and remote operation capabilities. Finally, useful and high-value resources can be transported back to Earth for reuse via the lunar launch pad 19, and can also provide propellants and other raw materials and resources for deep space exploration.

[0040] The intelligent mining system for lunar mining described in this invention enables unmanned, automated, and intelligent operations across the entire chain of lunar resource exploration, construction, mining, and utilization, providing a feasible technical path for the large-scale development and utilization of lunar resources.

[0041] Finally, it should be noted that the above description is only a preferred embodiment of the intelligent lunar mining system of the present invention. Any modifications made to the operation process, operation method, system composition, etc. of the intelligent lunar mining system based on the present invention are all within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An intelligent mine site system for lunar mining, characterized by, The intelligent mine system comprises an intelligent exploration subsystem, an intelligent construction subsystem, an intelligent mining subsystem, an intelligent utilization subsystem, an intelligent operation and maintenance subsystem, and an intelligent communication and navigation subsystem; the intelligent mine system schedules the exploration vehicle (1), the construction vehicle (5), the surface mining vehicle (2), the underground mining vehicle (10), the water-ice-heat mining vehicle (21), the ore transport vehicle (4), the ore dressing equipment (12), and the utilization equipment of the intelligent equipment layer; and the intelligent mine system operates, controls, and maintains the solar power station (18), the lunar soil construction plant (24), the mineral mining plant, the mineral transport network (6), the mineral separation plant (23), and the resource utilization plant (15) of the intelligent facility layer.

2. The intelligent mine site system for lunar mining of claim 1, wherein, The intelligent exploration subsystem is composed of an exploration robot, a terrain scanner, a mineral analyzer, and a remote sensing platform, and is used for clarifying the basic conditions of the lunar geological terrain, resource distribution, and lunar soil properties, and especially collecting information about the mineral distribution, reserves, depth, and occurrence state of the moon.

3. The intelligent mine site system for lunar mining of claim 1, wherein, The intelligent construction subsystem takes a movable robot as a carrier, synchronously integrates a lunar soil collecting device, a lunar soil building material processing device, and an intelligent construction device, and constructs intelligent facilities such as a solar power station, a lunar soil construction plant, a mineral mining plant, a mineral transport network, a mineral separation plant, and a resource utilization plant.

4. The intelligent mine site system for lunar mining of claim 1, wherein, The intelligent mining subsystem is composed of a surface mining vehicle, an underground mining vehicle, a water-ice-heat mining vehicle, and a transport vehicle, and realizes multi-mode and multi-path mineral mining and transportation.

5. The intelligent mine site system for lunar mining of claim 1, wherein, The intelligent utilization subsystem comprises a metal smelting device, a gas preparation device, and an energy conversion device, and converts lunar resources into products such as usable metal and alloy raw materials, thorium / uranium raw materials, oxygen, hydrogen, and hydrocarbon fuels, and energy such as solar energy, fuel cells, and nuclear energy.

6. The intelligent mine site system for lunar mining of claim 1, wherein, The intelligent operation and maintenance subsystem realizes state monitoring, equipment maintenance, autonomous scheduling, and fault warning based on artificial intelligence and Internet of Things technology.

7. The intelligent mine site system for lunar mining of claim 1, wherein, The intelligent communication and navigation subsystem is composed of an earth base station, an orbital relay satellite, and a lunar control center, and realizes real-time command scheduling and data transmission of the lunar intelligent mine through land-based, air-based, and lunar-based means.

8. The intelligent mine system operational flow for lunar mining of any one of claims 1-8, wherein, The operation process comprises the following steps: Step 1: The lunar intelligent mine system clarifies the basic conditions of the lunar geological terrain, resource distribution, and lunar soil properties through the intelligent exploration vehicle, and provides data support for subsequent construction, mining, and utilization processes. Step 2: The intelligent construction vehicle is used to construct intelligent infrastructure such as a solar power station, a lunar soil construction plant, a surface mineral mining plant, an underground mineral mining plant, a water-ice mining plant, a mineral transport network, a mineral transfer station, a mineral separation plant, and a resource utilization plant. Step 3: The intelligent surface mining vehicle, the intelligent underground mining vehicle, and the intelligent water-ice-heat mining vehicle are used to develop lunar surface resources, underground resources, and water-ice resources in multiple paths and on a large scale; the intelligent scheduling of the ore transport vehicle ensures the continuous mining and processing of lunar mineral resources; the intelligent ore dressing equipment realizes the automatic crushing, fine grinding, separation, and enrichment of lunar ores, and further obtains concentrates and tailings. Step 4: The intelligent utilization equipment comprises a metal smelting device, an electrolytic water hydrogen and oxygen preparation device, a hydrogen energy power generation device, and a nuclear power device, and synchronously realizes automatic control and real-time monitoring of material flow. Step 5, the lunar control center unifies the scheduling of all intelligent subsystems, coordinates with the intelligent operation and maintenance subsystem, the intelligent communication and navigation subsystem, and conducts real-time command scheduling, state monitoring and operation and maintenance of intelligent equipment and intelligent facilities in the intelligent mine. Step 6, useful and high-value strategic resources are transported back to Earth through the lunar launch pad for reuse, while providing propellants and other raw materials and resources for deep space exploration.

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