Automatic Control of Working Process Parameters as a Condition for Robotisation of Mining Machines

Boom-type roadheaders are used for drilling underground roadways in mines and tunnels in civil engineering. They allow for mechanization of basic process operations, making up the drilling process for that roadway type, i.e. rock cutting, output loading on the means of transport, output removal from the roadway face and making roof support. The course of the rock cutting process located in a cross section of the drilled roadway or tunnel is decisive for the drilling process efficiency resulting from the obtainable drilling progress and the costs related to it. The starting point for the robotisation of that type of machines is an efficient solution for automatic cutting process control. This is a highly difficult task especially with respect to drilling tunnels in rocks with highly diversified and changeable mechanical properties. Such a situation is quite common as roadways in underground mines and traffic or other tunnels are usually drilled in the layered rock mass. The article presents selected test results for the automatic control algorithm for controlling the cutting process parameters with a boom-type roadheader, developed in the Department of Mining Mechanization and Robotisation of the Faculty of Mining and Geology at the Silesian University of Technology. The proposed control method was implemented in an actual machine, i.e. a boom-type roadheader R-130 (manufactured by FAMUR S.A.), equipped with an automatic control system. Based on the dynamic characteristics recorded during experimental studies, the performance of the developed solution was evaluated by comparing the results obtained during working in an automatic mode and manual control by the operator.