# US 8,571,762 B2 · Real time method for determining the spatial pose of electronic mining shovels

> Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt

- Number: US 8,571,762 B2
- Document ID: US8571762B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 12/812,186
- Filed: 2009-01-07
- Published: 2010-11-11
- Granted: 2013-10-29
- Earliest claimed: 2008-01-08
- Assignees: Ezymine Pty Limited
- Applicants: Peter Ross McAree; Anthony Walton Reid
- Inventors: Peter Ross McAree; Anthony Walton Reid
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8571762B2

## CPC

- E02F 3/435: {for dipper-arms, backhoes or the like}
- E02F 3/304: {with the dipper-arm slidably mounted on the boom (E02F3/305 takes precedence)}
- E02F 3/46: with reciprocating digging or scraping elements moved by cables or hoisting ropes {; Drives or control devices therefor (E02F3/205, E02F3/905 take precedence)}
- E02F 9/264: {Sensors and their calibration for indicating the position of the work tool}
- E02F: DREDGING; SOIL-SHIFTING (winning peat E21C49/00)

## Abstract

Knowing the global pose of mining excavators provides a range of benefits for managing and automating mining operations. A method for globally locating the pose of an electric mining shovel is described. The system takes measurements from an arbitrary number of RTK-GPS antennas mounted on the machine house and a resolver fitted to the machines' swing axis. A Kalman filter is used to produce estimates of the global locations pose.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of determining the global pose of a mining shovel, the mining shovel including:
a machine shovel carbody substantially static between digging operations;
a machine house that is mounted on the carbody and rotatable about a vertical axis relative to the carbody;
a shovel assembly including a shovel handle and a bucket assembly, the shovel assembly being mounted to the machine house, and movable relative to the machine house;
the method including:
(a) as a first stage computing the location of the mining shovel carbody (c-frame) relative to a local geodetic frame (g-frame) using a global positioning system, an inclinometer, and a swing axis resolver;
(b) as a second stage computing a house pose (h-frame) relative to the c-frame using a global positioning system, an axis inertial sensor and a swing axis resolver;
(c) as a third stage computing a bucket pose (b-frame) relative to the h-frame using crowd and hoist axis resolvers.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein (a) and (b) are carried out using an extended Kalman filter.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein (a) is carried out using an iterative routine until convergence.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the inclinometer is a twin axis inclinometer.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the inertial sensor is a six axis inertial sensor.

### Claim 6 (depends on 2)

A method as claimed in claim 2 wherein (a) is carried out using an iterative routine until convergence.

### Claim 7 (depends on 2)

A method as claimed in claim 2 wherein the inclinometer is a twin axis inclinometer.

### Claim 8 (depends on 2)

A method as claimed in claim 2 wherein the inertial sensor is a six axis inertial sensor.

### Claim 9 (depends on 3)

A method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the inertial sensor is a six axis inertial sensor.

### Claim 10 (depends on 4)

A method as claimed in claim 4 wherein the inertial sensor is a six axis inertial sensor.

### Claim 11 (depends on 6)

A method as claimed in claim 6 wherein the inertial sensor is a six axis inertial sensor.

### Claim 12 (depends on 7)

A method as claimed in claim 7 wherein the inertial sensor is a six axis inertial sensor.