Method to Haulage Path Estimation and Road-Quality Assessment Using Inertial Sensors on LHD Machines

Abstract

For many years now, the mining industry has seen a boost in exploring and developing the systems for monitoring operational parameters of mining machines, in particular load-haul-dump machines. Therefore, further researches on algorithmics have also advanced dynamically regarding effective performance management as well as predictive maintenance. Nonetheless, the issue of road conditions is still being neglected. That issue has a substantial impact on both the overall operator’s convenience, their performance, and machinery reliability, especially its construction node and tire damages. Moreover, such negligence pertains also to the maintenance of mine infrastructure, including the network of passages. The paper explains the use of the portable inertial measurement unit (IMU) in evaluating road conditions in the deep underground mine. The detailed descriptions of the road quality classification procedure and bump detection have been included. The paper outlines the basic method of tracking the motion trajectory of vehicles and suggests the method of visualization of the results of the road conditions evaluation. This paper covers the sample results collected by the measurements unit in the deep underground mine during six experiments. This paper is an extended version of a paper presented at the ACIIDs 2020 conference [P. Stefaniak, D. Gawelski, S. Anufriiev and P. Śliwiński, Road-quality classification and motion tracking with inertial sensors in the deep underground mine, Asian Conference on Intelligent Information and Database Systems, March 2020, Springer, Singapore, pp. 168–178].