Vehicle Perimeter Control System for Mining Drills
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In open-cut mining, accurate blast hole drilling is crucial for efficient blasting operations, but existing technologies face challenges in controlling multiple drills simultaneously, leading to sub-optimal size distributions, increased dilution, and higher maintenance costs due to poor drilling precision and safety concerns.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for controlling vehicles, including a perimeter defining a boundary, a user interface for monitoring and controlling vehicle movement, and a controller that inhibits vehicles from crossing the perimeter in autonomous mode while allowing controlled crossing in operator-controlled mode, utilizing virtual perimeters and haptic displays for remote operation and safety management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple drills are controlled simultaneously in autonomous mode with perimeter restrictions, then safety and drilling accuracy are improved, but operational flexibility and productivity are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the perimeter constraint based on operational context. In autonomous mode, the vehicle is restricted by the virtual perimeter to ensure safety and precision. When switched to operator-controlled mode, the perimeter restriction is relaxed or removed, allowing the operator to manually guide the vehicle beyond the perimeter when operational flexibility is needed. This dynamic switching between constraint levels resolves the contradiction between safety and operational flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the control parameter from fully autonomous with strict perimeter enforcement to operator-controlled with relaxed constraints. The controller monitors the vehicle's operational mode and adjusts the perimeter enforcement parameter accordingly - maintaining strict enforcement in autonomous mode for safety, and reducing enforcement in operator-controlled mode for flexibility. This parameter change allows the system to adapt to different operational requirements.
2Manufacturing precision
If autonomous mode is used with perimeter inhibition, then drilling precision is improved, but the ability to respond to unexpected conditions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates feedback through the operator interface that allows real-time monitoring and intervention. When operating in autonomous mode, the vehicle follows pre-programmed paths with high precision. However, the operator can receive feedback about vehicle status and environmental conditions, and when unexpected conditions arise, can switch to operator-controlled mode to manually intervene and adapt the operation to new conditions, thus maintaining both precision and adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The operator acts as an intermediary between the autonomous system and the environment. The autonomous mode handles routine precision drilling operations, while the operator stands by to intervene when unexpected conditions occur. This intermediary role allows the system to maintain autonomous precision for normal operations while having human judgment available for exceptional cases, resolving the contradiction between precision and adaptability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If operator-controlled mode allows perimeter crossing, then operational versatility is improved, but safety risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the level of perimeter enforcement based on the operational mode. In autonomous mode, the virtual perimeter is strictly enforced to prevent unsafe crossings. In operator-controlled mode, the system transitions to a different dynamic state where the operator has direct control and can override perimeter restrictions when justified by operational needs. This dynamic adjustment allows the system to maintain safety through automation while permitting controlled versatility when human judgment is applied.
Data Source
AI summary
A system 10 for controlling operation of a vehicle 12 in a defined area 14 includes a perimeter 16 defining a boundary of the defined area 14. A user interface 18 is provided for at least one of controlling and monitoring movement of the vehicle 12 as it traverses the area 14 and monitoring the location of the vehicle 12 relative to the perimeter 16. The system 10 further includes a controller 26 to which the vehicle 12 is responsive, the vehicle 12 having a plurality of modes of operation, one of which is an autonomous mode and another of which is an operator controlled mode. The controller 26 is operative, when the vehicle 12 is operating in the autonomous mode and the vehicle comes within a predetermined range of the perimeter, to inhibit the vehicle 12 from crossing the perimeter 16 and, when the vehicle12 is operating in the operator controlled mode or is converted from autonomous mode to operator controlled mode, to permit the vehicle 12 to cross the perimeter 16 under control of the operator.