Automated system for face drill machines
AssigneeJ.H. Fletcher & Co.
InventorsSean Joseph McQuerrey, Muhammad Usama, Adam Richard Teator
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A drilling machine, including a drill and a boom, are used for drilling boreholes in the face of a mine. A sensor may scan the mine and create a virtual environment representing the mine based on that scan. The drilling machine may include a computer for moving the drill and the boom from a first position to a second position based at least partially on evaluation of the kinematic redundancy of the drill and boom. This may be used to avoid a collision in moving the drill and boom from the first position to the second position.
Claims13
A system for use in drilling one or more boreholes in a face of a mine, the system comprising:
- a drilling machine including
- a drill for drilling the borehole;
- a boom for manipulating a position of the drill;
- and
- a plurality of actuators adapted to move the drill or the boom;
- at least one sensor adapted to scan at least a portion of the mine for the creation of a topological image of the mine;
- and
- a computer configured to automatically move the drill and boom from a first position to a second position according to an algorithm based on the topological image of the mine, wherein the algorithm comprises determining a kinematic redundancy of the plurality of actuators prior to moving the drill and boom.
A method for use in drilling a plurality of boreholes in a face of a mine passage using a drilling machine including at least one drill, at least one boom, and a plurality of actuators adapted to move the drill or the boom, the method comprising:
- scanning an environment of the mine to create a virtual environment representing at least a portion of the mine and at least a portion of the drilling machine;
- determining a kinematic redundancy of the plurality of actuators in moving the boom and drill from a first position to a second position;
- upon determining a presence of kinematic redundancy for at least one of the actuators, automatically actuating the at least one actuator for moving the drill and boom from the first position toward the second position according to an algorithm based on the virtual environment.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.