Instrumentation for Remote Control of a Dredge
€ 20,-
Type:
Presented during:
WODCON XVIII - 2007 Orlando, Florida, USA
Authors:
Cavanough, et al
Abstract: Remote control of a dredge requires reliable measurement of key operating components of the dredge. The development of strategies to measure these components are presented in this paper and include:
- Measurement of rope position by using a inexpensive, bow mounted sonar sensor in conjunction with GPS data. When the dredge approaches the limit of the side-to-side slew, one rope passes under the bow sonar and it is detected. At that time, the GPS heading is recorded and the location of the rope is calculated using the known geometry of the dredge and cutter. Similarly the position of the other rope can be determined as the dredge swings to the other slew limit. From then on, the system can track the location of the cutter and ropes to alarm if a collision is imminent. The system can accommodate changes in the anchor position because it automatically updates each time the dredge swings to the limit of the slew.
- Measurement of pond depth using several inexpensive non-scanning sonar sensors. Scanning is achieved by the motion of the dredge and the allocation of a depth measurement to a location as per the GPS data.
- Measurement of spud position and height using vertical scanning lasers.
- Measurement of mine face position using a horizontal scanning laser at the bow of the dredge.
- Measurement of vibration, video and audio signals using digital devices.
- Communication of measurement data and control signals via a redundant path digital wireless network.
Keywords: Dredging, mining, mineral sands, automation, control systems.