Forward-Looking Mine Profile Control for Longwall Shearers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional longwall mining systems rely on backward-looking mine profiles, which are inefficient in maintaining horizon and can lead to material quality degradation, alignment issues, and system damage due to the lack of proactive control over the mining process.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a forward-looking mine profile system using cameras and edge detection techniques to generate a profile of the path ahead, allowing for proactive control of the longwall mining system by identifying and adjusting to the shape of the pan-line and structures ahead of the shearer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If a backward-looking mine profile is used to control the longwall mining system, then the system can monitor past conditions and identify inefficiencies, but the system cannot proactively adjust to upcoming conditions, leading to loss of horizon and material quality degradation
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by capturing images of the mine environment ahead of the shearer's current position and processing these images in advance to identify upcoming structures and conditions. This allows the control system to prepare appropriate control signals before the shearer encounters these conditions, enabling proactive rather than reactive control. The forward-looking camera system and image processing occur ahead of time, allowing the system to anticipate and adapt to upcoming pan-line variations, roof conditions, and other environmental factors that would otherwise be unknown until the shearer reaches them.
2Loss of time
If conventional backward-looking control methods are used, then the system relies on past sensor data, but this results in delayed response to changing mine conditions and potential system damage
Solution Approach 1:
The system captures images and identifies structures ahead of the shearer's current position, performing the detection and analysis work in advance. By processing images taken from forward-looking cameras mounted on the shearer or nearby structures, the system determines upcoming pan-line shapes and roof conditions before the shearer encounters them. This preliminary identification allows the control system to generate appropriate control signals in advance, reducing the time lag between detecting a condition and responding to it, thereby preventing collisions and system damage.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary element - a forward-looking camera system and image processing pipeline - that acts as a mediator between the shearer and the upcoming mine environment. Instead of the shearer directly encountering unknown conditions, the camera system captures visual information ahead, the image processing algorithms identify structures and pan-line variations, and this intermediate information is used to generate proactive control signals. This intermediary detection and processing system bridges the gap between the shearer's current position and upcoming conditions, enabling timely adjustments.
3Productivity
If the shearer operates without forward-looking information, then the system structure remains simple, but the extraction efficiency decreases due to inability to maintain optimal horizon
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces traditional mechanical sensing and control methods with optical-based camera systems and digital image processing. Instead of relying solely on physical sensors mounted on the shearer that react to contact with the environment, the invention uses forward-looking cameras to optically capture images of upcoming conditions. These images are then processed using computer vision algorithms to identify pan-line shapes, roof conditions, and other environmental factors. This substitution of optical-digital systems for mechanical-reactive systems enables proactive control without requiring complex mechanical modifications to the shearer itself, thereby improving extraction efficiency while managing overall system complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A controller for controlling a longwall mining system. The controller includes a non-transitory computer readable medium and a processor. The controller also includes computer executable instructions stored in the computer readable medium for controlling operation of the industrial machine to receive a first signal from a first camera, receive a second signal from a second camera, analyze at least one of the first signal and the second signal to identify one or more edges of a structure of the longwall mining system ahead of a shearer in either a first direction of travel of the shearer or a second direction of travel of the shearer, generate a forward-looking mine profile based on the one or more edges, and control the longwall mining system based on the forward-looking mine profile.