Shearer Guidance: A Major Advance in Longwall Mining

Abstract

This paper describes recent advances in the development of an integrated inertial guidance system for automation of the longwall coal mining process. Significant advances in longwall automation are being achieved through an industry sponsored project which targets productivity and safety benefits. Stabilised inertial navigation techniques are being successfully employed to accurately measure the three-dimensional path of the longwall shearer. This enabling technology represents a breakthrough in achieving practical and reliable automated face alignment. This paper also describes a specification for the interconnection of underground mining equipment based on the newly developed EtherNet/IP control and information protocol which ensures equipment compatibility across multi-vendor components of the automation system.