Mine Vehicle Control Using Dual-Granularity Location Updates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle control systems for autonomous vehicles in mine sites face challenges in balancing safety and productivity, as frequent decelerations and stops reduce conveyance efficiency and increase labor costs, while ensuring safety through location data transmission and positional monitoring is difficult to achieve without compromising productivity.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle control system that uses dual communication methods, with a first method for long-distance communication and a second method for high-granularity, short-range communication, allowing the autonomous vehicle to adjust its deceleration or stop based on precise location information from the manned vehicle, reducing unnecessary stops and improving productivity while maintaining safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the autonomous traveling vehicle frequently decelerates or stops to maintain safety distance from other vehicles, then safety is improved, but conveyance efficiency and productivity deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the safety distance threshold based on the operational context. When a manned vehicle is detected, the autonomous vehicle maintains a larger safety distance. When only autonomous vehicles are present, the safety distance is reduced, allowing continuous movement and improving productivity while maintaining appropriate safety margins.
Solution Approach 2:
The control server changes the parameter of safety distance threshold dynamically based on the types of vehicles detected. The system transitions between different safety distance parameters depending on whether manned or autonomous vehicles are in the vicinity, optimizing both safety and efficiency.
2Reliability
If the autonomous traveling vehicle maintains a large safety distance from other vehicles, then safety is improved, but conveyance efficiency deteriorates due to frequent stops
Solution Approach 1:
The safety distance is not fixed but dynamically adjusted based on real-time detection of vehicle types. The system maintains larger distances when manned vehicles are detected and reduces distances when only autonomous vehicles are present, minimizing unnecessary deceleration time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously receives location data from all vehicles, determines their types, and adjusts the safety distance parameter in real-time based on this feedback. This closed-loop control allows the autonomous vehicle to optimize its movement by adjusting safety margins according to actual traffic conditions.
3Measurement precision
If the system uses high-granularity location data transmission for precise positional monitoring, then safety monitoring is improved, but communication resource usage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different data transmission granularities to different vehicles based on their type and location. Manned vehicles receive high-granularity location data when in proximity to autonomous vehicles, while other vehicles use standard transmission intervals, optimizing communication resource usage while maintaining safety monitoring precision where needed.
Data Source
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AI summary
A vehicle control system includes an autonomous traveling vehicle configured to autonomously travel in a mine, a manned vehicle. The autonomous traveling vehicle and the manned vehicle each include an own position estimating device and a vehicle mounted communication terminal. The autonomous traveling vehicle and the manned vehicle are communicatively connected via one wireless channel. The manned vehicle transmits manned vehicle location information using a first communication method at a first granularity. When a distance from the manned vehicle is determined to be a first inter-vehicular distance threshold or less based on the manned vehicle location information transmitted by the first communication method, the autonomous traveling vehicle instructs the manned vehicle to transmit the manned vehicle location information by a second communication method different from the first communication method at a second granularity smaller than the first granularity.