Underground Mining Vehicle Route Planning for Boom Clearance
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In underground worksites, particularly in narrow tunnels, mining vehicles face challenges in navigating safely due to limited space, risking collisions with tunnel walls or obstacles, as existing technologies lack effective route planning solutions that account for the vehicle's kinematic and space restrictions.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus equipped with a processor and memory, configured to obtain map data, start and end positions, and vehicle information, determines a collision-free continuous route for mining vehicles by analyzing kinematic and space restrictions, allowing for movable work device positions within its movability limits, and visualizes or controls the vehicle to follow this route.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the mining vehicle operates in narrow tunnels, then the vehicle can access confined work areas, but the risk of collision with tunnel walls increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary route planning before the vehicle enters the tunnel, calculating a collision-free path that accounts for the vehicle's kinematic restrictions and the tunnel's geometric constraints. This advance planning ensures the vehicle can access confined areas while avoiding collisions.
Solution Approach 2:
The route planning system transitions from traditional 2D map-based navigation to 3D spatial reasoning, incorporating the vehicle's boom movements and three-dimensional tunnel geometry. This dimensional expansion enables the vehicle to navigate narrow tunnels by utilizing vertical and lateral space optimization.
2Ease of operation
If the boom is moved to transport position for vehicle movement, then the vehicle can be relocated, but the boom may hit tunnel walls during movement
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the boom's transport position based on the planned vehicle route and real-time spatial constraints. Rather than using a fixed transport position, the boom's configuration is continuously optimized to match the tunnel's geometry along the entire travel path, preventing collisions during vehicle relocation.
Solution Approach 2:
The route planning system acts as an intermediary between the vehicle's movement requirements and the tunnel's spatial constraints. It calculates intermediate boom positions and adjustments that enable safe vehicle relocation while maintaining clearance from tunnel walls throughout the movement sequence.
3Device complexity
If traditional route planning is used without considering vehicle kinematic restrictions, then route determination is simpler, but the planned route may not be executable by the vehicle
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates vehicle-specific parameters such as minimum turning radius, maximum slope, and boom articulation angles directly into the route planning algorithm. By changing the planning parameters to include these kinematic constraints, the system generates routes that are both computationally feasible and physically executable by the mining vehicle.
Solution Approach 2:
The route planning system serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as a navigation planner, a kinematic feasibility analyzer, and a collision avoidance system. This multi-functionality ensures that the generated routes are not only simple to compute but also guaranteed to be executable by vehicles with diverse kinematic characteristics.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3A~4B
Figure 5A~5B
AI summary
According to an aspect, an apparatus may obtain map data associated with a tunnel system of an underground worksite, obtain a start position and an end position for a mining vehicle configured to operate in the tunnel system; obtain vehicle information comprising at least kinematic restrictions and space restrictions associated with structural body members of the mining vehicle and a movable work device of the mining vehicle, the kinematic restrictions comprising movability limits of the movable work device; and determine at least partly based on the map data, the start and end positions, and the vehicle information, a collision free continuous route between the start and end positions for the mining vehicle, the collision free continuous route having at least one collision free position for the movable work device within the movability limits of the movable work device along the collision free continuous route.